Electronic device and method for determining sleep-related information

ABSTRACT

An electronic device according to various embodiments comprises: a bio-signal detection sensor configured to acquire first and second biometric information on an object outside the electronic device; and a processor, wherein the processor can be configured to: acquire the first and second biometric information by using the bio-signal detection sensor; configure a first variance, in which the first biometric information is changed, and a second variance, in which the second biometric information is changed; determining a state of the object related to the sleep on the basis of at least a part of the first variance and the second variance; and estimate a sleep latency related to the object on the basis of at least a part of the state.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to an electronic device for determiningsleep-related information and a method of the same.

BACKGROUND ART

Sleep recovers the brain or the body having accumulation of fatiguethrough a sophisticated active interaction of the central nervoussystem. As described above, sleep is a factor influencing human health,and thus an electronic device for monitoring a sleep state of a user hasbeen developed.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

An electronic device may need user engagement or intervention in orderto measure sleep information of the user. In general, the user sleeps totake a rest and thus such user engagement or intervention may beinconvenient for the user sleeping.

Meanwhile, sleep latency from a time point at which the user intends tosleep to a time point at which the user falls asleep may be an importantparameter to indicate a sleep state of the user. Accordingly, anelectronic device for determining sleep latency without any userengagement or intervention may be required.

Various embodiments may provide an electronic device and a method fordetermining speed latency through a Radio Frequency (RF) sensorseparated from the user.

The technical subjects pursued in the disclosure may not be limited tothe above mentioned technical subjects, and other technical subjectswhich are not mentioned may be clearly understood, through the followingdescriptions, by those skilled in the art of the disclosure.

Solution to Problem

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device isprovided. The electronic device includes: a biometric signal detectionsensor configured to acquire first biometric information and secondbiometric information on an object outside the electronic device; and aprocessor, wherein the processor is configured to acquire the firstbiometric information and the second biometric information through thebiometric signal detection sensor, identify a first change of the firstbiometric information and a second change of the second biometricinformation, determine a state of the object related to sleep on thebasis of at least a portion of the first change and the second change,and estimate a sleep latency related to the object on the basis of atleast a portion of the state.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes: a communicationcircuit; and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to receivefirst biometric information and second biometric information on anexternal object measured by an external electronic device through thecommunication circuit, identify a first change of the first biometricinformation and a second change of the second biometric information,determine a state of the object related to sleep on the basis of atleast a portion of the first change and the second change, and estimatea sleep latency related to the object on the basis of at least a portionof the state.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes: a memory configuredto store instructions; an RF sensor configured to transmit a RadioFrequency (RF) signal and receive a reflection signal of the RF signal;and one or more processors coupled to the RF sensor and the memory andconfigured to execute the stored instructions in order to identify oneor more signals indicating a state of a user within the receivedreflection signal, monitor a change (difference) in data determined onthe basis of the one or more signals according to a time, determine thata time point at which the user actually begins sleeping is a time pointat which the monitored change is smaller than a first reference value,determine that a time point at which the user intends to sleep is asecond time point at which the monitored change is larger than a secondreference value, determine that a sleep latency of the user is a timeinterval between the first time point and the second time point, andstore information on the determined time interval.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method of anelectronic device is provided. The method includes: acquiring firstbiometric information and second biometric information through abiometric signal detection sensor of the electronic device; identifyinga first change of the first biometric information and a second change ofthe second biometric information; determining a state of an objectrelated to sleep on the basis of at least a portion of the first changeand the second change; and estimating a sleep latency related to theobject.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method of anelectronic device is provided. The method includes: receiving firstbiometric information and second biometric information on an externalobject measured by an external electronic device through a communicationcircuit of the electronic device; identifying a first change of thefirst biometric information and a second change of the second biometricinformation; determining a state of an object related to a sleep on thebasis of at least a portion of the first change and the second change;and estimating a sleep latency related to the object on the basis of atleast a portion of the state.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method of anelectronic device is provided. The method includes: transmitting a RadioFrequency (RF) signal; receiving a reflection signal of the RF signal;identifying one or more signals indicating a state of a user within thereceived reflection signal; monitoring a change (difference) in datadetermined on the basis of the one or more signals according to a time;determining that a time point at which the user actually begins sleepingis a first time point at which the monitored change is smaller than afirst reference value; determining that a time point at which the userintends to sleep is a second time point at which the monitored change islarger than a second reference value; determining that a sleep latencyof the user is a time interval between the first time point and thesecond time point; and storing information on the determined timeinterval.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

An electronic device and a method of operating the same according tovarious embodiments can acquire information on a parameter related tosleep of a user without any independent user input for measuring a sleepstate of the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network environment including anelectronic device according to various embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electronic device according to variousembodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a program module according to variousembodiments;

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of the structure of the electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 4B illustrates an example of an environment including theelectronic device according to various embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of theelectronic device according to various embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of an RFsensor according to various embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of ananalog beamforming unit according to various embodiments;

FIG. 8A illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 8B illustrates another example of the operation of the electronicdevice according to various embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor identifying one or more signals within the reflection signalaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of one or more signals identified withina reflection signal according to various embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor transmitting an RF signal through one or more beams according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an environment including theelectronic device for transmitting an RF signal through one or morebeams according to various embodiments;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor identifying whether the user is located within the designated areathrough a beacon signal according to various embodiments;

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of an environment including theelectronic device for identifying whether the user is located within adesignated area through a beacon signal according to variousembodiments;

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor acquiring values indicating the state of the user from one or moresignals according to various embodiments;

FIG. 16 is a graph illustrating a motion state of the user;

FIG. 17 is a graph illustrating a breath state of the user;

FIG. 18 is a graph illustrating a heartbeat state of the user;

FIG. 19 is a graph illustrating a time point at which the user actuallybegins sleeping;

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor determining a time point at which the user intends to sleepaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 21 is a graph illustrating a time point at which the user intendsto sleep;

FIG. 22 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor processing information on the sleep latency according to variousembodiments; and

FIG. 23 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor changing a mode according to various embodiments.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosedwith reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should beunderstood that it is not intended to limit various embodiments of thepresent disclosure to a particular form but, on the contrary, theintention is to cover various modifications, equivalents, and/oralternatives of the embodiments of the present disclosure. In relationto descriptions of the drawings, like reference numerals can be used forsimilar components. A singular form can include a plurality of formsunless it is explicitly differently represented. In the disclosure, anexpression such as “A or B”, or “at least one of A or/and B” can includeany and every combination of items listed together. Expressions such as“first,” “second,” “primarily,” or “secondary” used in variousembodiments can represent various elements regardless of order and/orimportance and do not limit corresponding elements. Such expressions areused for distinguishing one element from another element. When anelement (e.g., a first element) is “operatively or communicativelycoupled with/to” or “connected to” another element (e.g., a secondelement), it should be understood that the element can be directlyconnected to the another element or can be connected to the anotherelement through other element (e.g., a third element).

An expression “configured to (or set)” used in the present disclosurecan be replaced with, for example, “suitable for,” “having the capacityto,” “designed to,” “adapted to,” “made to,” or “capable of” accordingto a situation. In some situation, an expression “apparatus configuredto” can mean that the apparatus “can” operate together with anotherapparatus or other components. For example, “a processor configured (orset) to perform A, B, and C” can be a dedicated processor (e.g., anembedded processor) for performing a corresponding operation or ageneric-purpose processor (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU) whichcan perform a corresponding operation by executing one or more softwareprograms stored in a memory device.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure can include, for example, at least one of a smart phone, atablet Personal Computer (PC), a mobile phone, a video phone, an e-bookreader, a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, a workstation, asever, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Portable Multimedia Player(PMP), an MPEG 3 (MP3) player, a mobile medical equipment, a camera, anda wearable device. The wearable device can include at least one of anaccessory type (e.g., a watch, a ring, a bracelet, an ankle bracelet, anecklace, glasses, a contact lens, or a Head-Mounted-Device (HMD)), afabric or clothing embedded type (e.g., electronic garments), a bodyattachable type (e.g., a skin pad or a tattoo), and an implantablecircuit. In some embodiments, the electronic device can be a smart homeappliance. The smart home appliance can include at least one of, forexample, a television, a Digital Video Disk (DVD) player, an audiodevice, a refrigerator, an air-conditioner, a cleaner, an oven, amicrowave oven, a washing machine, an air cleaner, a set-top box, a homeautomation control panel, a security control panel, a TV box (e.g.,Samsung HomeSync™, Apple TV™, or Google TV™), a game console (e.g.,Xbox™, PlayStation™), an electronic dictionary, an electronic key, acamcorder, and an electronic frame.

In another embodiment, the electronic device can include at least one ofvarious medical devices (e.g., various portable medical measuringdevices (a blood sugar measuring device, a heartbeat measuring device, ablood pressure measuring device, or a body temperature measuringdevice), a Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) device, a MagneticResonance Imaging (MRI) device, a Computed Tomography (CT) device, ascanning machine, and an ultrasonic wave device), a navigation device, aGlobal Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), an Event Data Recorder (EDR),a Flight Data Recorder (FDR), a vehicle infotainment device, electronicequipment for ship (e.g., a navigation device for ship and gyrocompass), avionics, a security device, a head unit for a vehicle, anindustrial or home robot, an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of afinancial institution, a Point Of Sales (POS) device of a store, and anInternet of Things (IoT) device (e.g., a light bulb, various sensors,electricity or gas meter, a sprinkler device, a fire alarm, athermostat, a street light, a toaster, sports equipment, a hot watertank, a heater, and a boiler). According to an embodiment, theelectronic device can include at least one of a portion of furniture orbuilding/construction, an electronic board, an electronic signaturereceiving device, a projector, and various measuring devices (e.g.,water supply, electricity, gas, or electric wave measuring device).According to various embodiments, the electronic device can be aflexible electronic device or a combination of two or more of theforegoing various devices. An electronic device according to embodimentsof the present disclosure is not limited to the foregoing devices. Theterm “user”, as used herein, can refer to a person using an electronicdevice or a device using an electronic device (e.g., an artificialintelligence electronic device).

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment including an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electronic device 101 may include a bus 110, aprocessor 120, a memory 130, an input/output interface 150, a display160, and a communication interface 170. In an embodiment, the electronicdevice 101 can omit at least one of the components or further include anadditional component.

The bus 110 can include a circuit for connecting the components 120through 170 and delivering communication signals (e.g., control messagesor data) between the components 120 through 170.

The processor 120 may include one or more of a central processing unit,an application processor, and a Communication Processor (CP). Theprocessor 120 may carry out, for example, calculation or data processingrelating to control and/or communication of at least one other componentof the electronic device 101.

The memory 130 can include a volatile and/or nonvolatile memory. Thememory 130, for example, can store commands or data relating to at leastother component of the electronic device 101. According to anembodiment, the memory 130 can store software and/or a program 140. Theprogram 140 can include a kernel 141, middleware 143, an ApplicationProgramming Interface (API) 145, and/or an application program (or“application”) 147. At least some of the kernel 141, the middleware 143,and the API 145 may be referred to as an operating system. The kernel141 can control or manage system resources (e.g., the bus 110, theprocessor 120, or the memory 130) used for performing operations orfunctions implemented by the other programs (e.g., the middleware 134,the API 145, or the application program 147). Additionally, the kernel141 can provide an interface for controlling or managing the systemresources by accessing an individual component of the electronic device101 from the middleware 143, the API 145, or the application program147.

The middleware 143, for example, can serve an intermediary role forexchanging data between the API 145 or the application program 147 andthe kernel 141 through communication. Also, the middleware 143 canprocess one or more job requests received from the application program147, based on their priority. For example, the middleware 143 can assigna priority for using the system resource (e.g., the bus 110, theprocessor 120, or the memory 130) of the electronic device 101 to atleast one of the application programs 147 and process the one or morejob requests. The API 145, as an interface through which the application147 controls a function provided from the kernel 141 or the middleware143, can include, for example, at least one interface or function (e.g.,an instruction) for file control, window control, image processing, orcharacter control. The input/output interface 150, for example, canserve as an interface for delivering commands or data inputted from auser or another external device to other component(s) of the electronicdevice 101. Also, the input/output interface 150 can output commands ordata inputted from the other component(s) of the electronic device 101to the user or another external device.

The display 160, for example, can include a Liquid Crystal Display(LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display, an Organic Light EmittingDiode (OLED) display, a Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) display,or an electronic paper display. The display 160, for example, candisplay various contents (e.g., texts, images, videos, icons, orsymbols) to the user. The display 160 can include a touch screen, forexample, and receive touch, gesture, proximity, or hovering inputs byusing an electronic pen or a user's body part. The communicationinterface 170, for example, can set a communication between theelectronic device 101 and an external device (e.g., a first externalelectronic device 102, a second external electronic device 104, or aserver 106). For example, the communication interface 170 cancommunicate with the external device (e.g., the second externalelectronic device 104 or the server 106) over a network 162 usingwireless communication or wired communication.

The wireless communication, for example, can at least one of Long-TermEvolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), Wireless Broadband (WiBro), and Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), as a cellular communication protocol. According toan embodiment, like an element 164 illustrated in FIG. 1, the wirelesscommunication may include, for example, at least one of Wi-Fi, Li-Fi(Light Fidelity), Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), ZigBee, NearField Communication (NFC), magnetic secure transmission, Radio Frequency(RF), and Body Area Network (BAN). According to an embodiment, thewireless communication may include a GNSS The GNSS can include, forexample, Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation SatelliteSystem (GLONASS), Beidou navigation satellite system (Beidou), orGalileo (the European global satellite-based navigation system).Hereafter, the GPS can be interchangeably used with the GNSS. The wiredcommunication, for example, can include at least one of Universal SerialBus (USB), High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), RecommendedStandard 232 (RS-232), and Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). Thenetwork 162 can include a telecommunications network, for example, atleast one of a computer network (e.g., Local Area Network (LAN) or WideArea Network (WAN)), Internet, and a telephone network.

Each of the first and second external electronic devices 102 and 104 canbe of the same as or of a different type from the type of the electronicdevice 101. According to various embodiments, all or part of theoperations executed in the electronic device 101 can be executed by oneor more other electronic devices (e.g., the electronic devices 102 and104, or the server 106). When the electronic device 101 is to perform afunction or service automatically or by request, instead of or additionto performing the function or the service by the electronic device 101,the electronic device 101 can request at least part of the relatedfunction from other device (e.g., the electronic device 102 or 104, orthe server 106). The other electronic device (e.g., the electronicdevice 102 or 104, or the server 106) can perform the requested functionor an additional function and provide its result to the electronicdevice 101. The electronic device 101 can provide the requested functionor service by processing the received result as it is or additionally.In doing so, for example, cloud computing, distributed computing, orclient-server computing techniques can be used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

The electronic device 201, for example, can include all or part of theelectronic device 101 of FIG. 1. The electronic device 201 can includeone or more processors (APs) 210, a communication module 220, aSubscriber Identification Module (SIM) 224, a memory 230, a sensormodule 240, a sensor hub 242, an input device 250, a display 260, aninterface 270, an audio module 280, a camera module 291, a powermanagement module 295, a battery 296, an indicator 297, and a motor 298.The processor 210, for example, can control a plurality of hardware orsoftware components connected to the processor 210 by executing an OS oran application program, and process various data and operations. Theprocessor 210 can be implemented with, for example, a System on Chip(SoC). According to one embodiment, the processor 210 can furtherinclude a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) and/or an image signalprocessor. The processor 210 may include at least part (e.g., a cellularmodule 221) of the components shown in FIG. 2. The processor 210 canload and process commands or data received from at least one of theother components (e.g., a nonvolatile memory) into a volatile memory,and store various data in the nonvolatile memory.

The communication module 220 can have the same or similar configurationto the communication interface 170 of FIG. 1. The communication module220 can include, for example, a cellular module 221, a WiFi module 223,a Bluetooth (BT) module 225, a GNSS module 227 (e.g., a GPS module, aGlonass module, a Beidou module, or a Galileo module), a Near FieldCommunication (NFC) module 228, and a Radio Frequency (RF) module 229.The cellular module 221 can provide, for example, voice call, videocall, text service, or Internet service through a communication network.According to one embodiment, the cellular module 221 can identify andauthenticate the electronic device 201 in the communication network byusing the SIM 224 (e.g., a SIM card). The communication module 220 maytransmit or receive a D2D signal to or from at least one otherelectronic device. The communication module 220 may be referred to as atleast one transceiver according to embodiments.

The cellular module 221 can perform at least part of a function whichcan be provided from the processor 210. The cellular module 221 canfurther include a CP. According to an embodiment, at least some (e.g.,two or more) of the cellular module 221, the WiFi module 223, the BTmodule 225, the GNSS module 227, or the NFC module 228 can be includedin one Integrated Chip (IC) or an IC package. The RF module 229 can, forexample, transmit and receive communication signals (e.g., RF signals).The RF module 229 can include, for example, a transceiver, a Power AmpModule (PAM), a frequency filter, a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), or anantenna. According to another embodiment, at least one of the cellularmodule 221, the WiFi module 223, the BT module 225, the GNSS module 227,or the NFC module 228 can transmit and receive RF signals through aseparate RF module. The SIM 224 can include, for example, a cardincluding a SIM and/or an embedded SIM, and contain uniqueidentification information (e.g., an Integrated Circuit Card Identifier(ICCID)) or subscriber information (e.g., an International MobileSubscriber Identity (IMSI)).

The memory 230 (e.g., the memory 130) can include, for example, aninternal memory 232 or an external memory 234. The internal memory 232can include at least one of, for example, a volatile memory (e.g.,Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Static RAM (SRAM), or SynchronousDynamic RAM (SDRAM)), and a non-volatile memory (e.g., One TimeProgrammable Read Only Memory (OTPROM), Programmable ROM (PROM),Erasable and Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable andProgrammable ROM (EEPROM), mask ROM, flash ROM, flash memory (e.g., NANDflash or NOR flash), hard drive, or Solid State Drive (SSD)). Theexternal memory 234 can further include a flash drive, for example,Compact Flash (CF), Secure Digital (SD), micro SD, mini SD, extremedigital (xD), or memory stick. The external memory 234 can befunctionally and/or physically connected to the electronic device 201through various interfaces.

The sensor module 240 can, for example, measure physical quantities ordetect an operating state of the electronic device 201, and thus convertthe measured or detected information into electrical signals. The sensormodule 240, for example, can include at least one of a gesture sensor240A, a gyro sensor 240B, an atmospheric pressure sensor 240C, amagnetic sensor 240D, an acceleration sensor 240E, a grip sensor 240F, aproximity sensor 240G, a color sensor 240H (e.g., a Red, Green, Blue(RGB) sensor), a bio sensor 240I, a temperature/humidity sensor 240J, anillumination sensor 240K, an Ultra Violet (UV) sensor 240M, and a radiofrequency (RF) sensor 240N. Additionally or alternately, the sensormodule 240 can include, for example, an E-nose sensor, anElectromyography (EMG) sensor, an Electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor, anElectrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, an InfraRed (IR) sensor, an iris sensor,and/or a fingerprint sensor. The sensor module 240 can further include acontrol circuit for controlling at least one sensor therein. Accordingto an embodiment, the electronic device 201 can further include, as partof the processor 210 or individually, a processor (e.g., the sensor hub242) configured to control the sensor module 240 and thus control thesensor module 240 while the processor 210 is sleeping.

The sensor hub 242 may receive measurement values of various sensorsincluded in the sensor module 240 and provide the received measurementvalues or information determined on the basis of the measurement valuesto the processor 210. The sensor hub 242 may receive signals forcontrolling various sensors included in the sensor module 240 from theprocessor 210. The sensor hub 242 may control sensors on the basis ofsignals received from the processor 210. The sensor hub 242 may bereferred to as an auxiliary processor according to embodiments.

The sensor hub 242 may operate regardless of a power state of theelectronic device 201 or the processor 210. For example, the sensor hub242 may control various sensors included in the sensor module 240 orprocess information received from the sensor module 240 even when theprocessor 210 operates in an idle state, a low power state, a sleepstate, or an inactive state,

The input device 250 can include, for example, a touch panel 252, a(digital) pen sensor 254, a key 256, or an ultrasonic input device 258.The touch panel 252 can use at least one of, for example, capacitive,resistive, infrared, and ultrasonic methods. Also, the touch panel 252may further include a control circuit. The touch panel 252 can furtherinclude a tactile layer and provide a tactile response to the user. The(digital) pen sensor 254 can include, for example, part of a touch panelor a separate sheet for recognition. The key 256 can include, forexample, a physical button, a touch key, an optical key, or a keypad.The ultrasonic input device 258 can detects ultrasonic waves from aninput tool through a microphone (e.g., the microphone 288) and thusobtain data corresponding to the detected ultrasonic waves.

The display 260 (e.g., the display 160) can include a panel 262, ahologram device 264, or a projector 266. The panel 262 can beimplemented to be, for example, flexible, transparent, or wearable. Thepanel 262 and the touch panel 252 can be configured as one or moremodule. The panel 262 can include a pressure sensor (or a force sensor)for measuring a pressure level of a user touch. The pressure sensor canbe integrated with the touch panel 252, or implemented as one or moresensors separately from the touch panel 252. The hologram device 264 canshow three-dimensional images in the air by using interference of light.The projector 266 can display an image by projecting light on a screen.The screen can be placed, for example, inside or outside the electronicdevice 201. The interface 270 can include, for example, an HDMI 272, aUSB 274, an optical interface 276, or a D-subminiature (D-sub) 278. Theinterface 270 can be included in, for example, the communicationinterface 170 of FIG. 1. Additionally or alternately, the interface 270can include, for example, a Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) interface,a SD card/MultiMedia Card (MMC) interface, or an Infrared DataAssociation (IrDA) standard interface.

The audio module 280, for example, can convert sounds into electricalsignals and vice versa. At least some components of the audio module 280can be included in, for example, the input/output interface 150 ofFIG. 1. The audio module 280 can process sound information input oroutput through, for example, a speaker 282, a receiver 284, an earphone286, or the microphone 288. The camera module 291 is, for example, adevice for capturing still images and moving images. According to oneembodiment, the camera module 291 can include one or more image sensors(e.g., a front sensor or a rear sensor), a lens, an Image SignalProcessor (ISP), or a flash (e.g., an LED or a xenon lamp. The powermanagement module 295, for example, can manage the power of theelectronic device 201. According to one embodiment, the power managementmodule 295 can include a Power Management IC (PMIC), a charger IC, or abattery or fuel gauge. The PMIC can have a wired and/or wirelesscharging method. The wireless charging method can include, for example,a magnetic resonance method, a magnetic induction method, or anelectromagnetic method, and can further include an additional circuitfor wireless charging, for example, a coil loop, a resonant circuit, ora rectifier. The battery gauge, for example, can measure the remainingcapacity of the battery 296, a voltage, currents, or temperature of thebattery 296 during charging. The battery 296 can include, for example, arechargeable battery and/or a solar battery.

The indicator 297 can display a specific state of the electronic device201 or part thereof (e.g., the processor 210), for example, a bootingstate, a message state, or a charging state. The motor 298 can convertelectrical signals into mechanical vibration and generate a vibration orhaptic effect. The electronic device 201, for example, can include aprocessing device (e.g., a GPU) for supporting mobile TV. The processingdevice for supporting mobile TV, for example, can process media dataaccording to standards such as Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB),Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), or media flow. Each of theabove-described components of the electronic device can be configuredwith one or more components, and the name of a corresponding componentcan vary according to a type of an electronic device. According tovarious embodiments, the electronic device can be configured to omitsome components, or further include an additional component. Also, someof the components of the electronic device according to variousembodiments can be combined as one entity and thus identically performthe functions of the corresponding components.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a program module according to variousembodiments.

According to one embodiment, the program module 310 (e.g., the program140) can include an OS for controlling resources relating to anelectronic device (e.g., the electronic device 101, the electronicdevice 201) and/or various applications (e.g., the application program147) running on the OS. The OS can include, for example, Android™, iOS™,Windows™, Symbian™, Tizen™, or Samsung Bada™ OS.

Referring to FIG. 3, The program module 310 can include a kernel 320(e.g., the kernel 141), a middleware 330 (e.g., the middleware 143), anAPI 360 (e.g., the API 145), and/or an application 370 (e.g., theapplication 147). At least part of the program module 310 can bepreloaded on the electronic device or downloaded from the externalelectronic device (e.g., the electronic device 102 or 104, the server106).

The kernel 320 (e.g., the kernel 141) can include, for example, a systemresource manager 321 and/or a device driver 323. The system resourcemanager 321 can control, allocate, or retrieve a system resource.According to one embodiment, the system resource manager 321 can includea process management unit, a memory management unit, or a file systemmanagement unit. The device driver 323 can include, for example, adisplay driver, a camera driver, a Bluetooth driver, a sharing memorydriver, a USB driver, a keypad driver, a WiFi driver, an audio driver,or an Inter-Process Communication (IPC) driver. The middleware 330, forexample, can provide a function commonly required by the application 370or provide various functions to the application 370 through the API 360so that the application 370 can efficiently use limited system resourcesinside the electronic device. According to one embodiment, themiddleware 330 (e.g., the middleware 143) can include at least one of aruntime library 335, an application manager 341, a window manager 342, amultimedia manager 343, a resource manager 344, a power manager 345, adatabase manager 346, a package manager 347, a connectivity manager 348,a notification manager 349, a location manager 350, a graphic manager351, and a security manager 352.

The runtime library 335 can include, for example, a library module usedby a complier to add a new function through a programming language whilethe application 370 is running. The runtime library 335 can manageinput/output, memory, or arithmetic function. The application manager341, for example, can manage a life cycle of at least one of theapplications 370. The window manager 342 can manage a Graphical UserInterface (GUI) resource used in a screen. The multimedia manager 343can recognize a format for playing various media files, and encode ordecode a media file by using the codec of a corresponding format. Theresource manager 344 can manage a source code of at least one of theapplication 370, and the resources such as memory or storage space. Thepower manager 345 can manage a capacity, a temperature of the battery orthe power by operating with, for example, Basic Input/Output System(BIOS), and provide power information for the operation of theelectronic device. The database manager 346 can create, search, ormodify a database to be used by at least one of the application 370. Thepackage manager 347 can manage installation or updating of anapplication distributed in a package file format.

The connectivity manger 348 can manage, for example, a wirelessconnection such as WiFi or Bluetooth. The notification manager 349 candisplay or notify an event such as incoming message, appointment, andproximity alert, to the user not to interrupt the user. The locationmanager 350 can manage location information of the electronic device.The graphic manager 351 can manage a graphic effect to be provided tothe user or a user interface relating thereto. The security manager 352can provide all security functions for system security or userauthentication. According to one embodiment, when the electronic device(e.g., the electronic device 101) includes a telephone function, themiddleware 330 can further include a telephony manager for managing avoice or video call function of the electronic device. The middleware330 can include a middleware module for combining various functions ofthe above-described components. The middleware 330 can provide a modulespecialized for each type of the OS to provide a distinguished function.Also, the middleware 330 can dynamically delete part of the existingcomponents or add new components. The API 360 (e.g., the API 145), as aset of API programming functions, can be provided as a differentconfiguration according to the OS. For example, Android or iOS canprovide one API set for each platform, and Tizen can provide two or moreAPI sets for each platform.

The application 370 (e.g., the application program 147) can include, forexample, applications of a home 371, a dialer 372, an SMS/MultimediaMessaging System (MMS) 373, an Instant Message (IM) 374, a browser 375,a camera 376, an alarm 377, a contact 378, a voice dial 379, an e-mail380, a calendar 381, a media player 382, an album 383, a watch 384.According to various embodiments, the application 370 can include one ormore applications for health care (e.g., measure an exercise amount orblood sugar level) or environmental information provision (e.g., provideair pressure, humidity, or temperature information). According to oneembodiment, the application 370 can include an application (hereafter,for the understanding, referred to as an information exchangeapplication) for supporting information exchange between the electronicdevice (e.g., the electronic device 101) and the external electronicdevice (e.g., the electronic device 102 or 104). The informationexchange application can include, for example, a notification relayapplication for relaying specific information to the external device ora device management application for managing the external electronicdevice. For example, the notification relay application can forwardnotification information generated from another application of theelectronic device to the external electronic device. Also, thenotification relay application, for example, can receive and forwardnotification information from the external electronic device to theuser. The device management application, for example, can manage (e.g.,install, delete, or update) at least one function (e.g., turn-on/turnoff of the external electronic device itself (or some components) ordisplay brightness (or resolution) adjustment) of the externalelectronic device communicating with the electronic device, anapplication operating in the external electronic device, or a serviceprovided from the external electronic device. According to oneembodiment, the application 370 can include a designated application(e.g., a health care application of a mobile medical device) accordingto a property of the external electronic device. According to oneembodiment, the application 370 can include an application received fromthe external electronic device. At least part of the program module 310can be implemented with software, firmware, hardware, or a combinationof at least two of them can include a module, a program, a routine, setsof instructions, or a process for executing one or more functions.

The term “module” as used in the present disclosure can imply, forexample, a unit including hardware, software, firmware, or a combinationof one or two or more of them. “module” can be interchangeably used withterms, for example, such as “logic”, “logical block”, “component”,“circuit”, and the like. “module” can be a minimum unit of an integralcomponent or can be a part thereof. The “module” may be mechanically orelectronically implemented and may include, for example, anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip, afield-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or a programmable-logic device,which has been known or are to be developed in the future, forperforming certain operations. At least some of devices (e.g., modulesor functions thereof) or methods (e.g., operations) according to variousembodiments may be implemented by instructions which are stored acomputer-readable storage medium (e.g., the memory 130) in the form of aprogram module. The instructions, when executed by a processor (e.g.,the processor 120 of FIG. 1 or the processor 210 of FIG. 2), may causethe processor to perform functions corresponding to the instructions.

The computer-readable recording medium can include a hard disk, a floppydisk, magnetic media (e.g., a magnetic tape), optical media (e.g., aCD-ROM, a DVD), magneto-optical media (e.g., a floptical disk), andhardware devices (e.g., a ROM, a RAM, or a flash memory). Also, aprogram instruction can include code made by a compiler or codeexecutable by a computer using an interpreter. A module or a programmodule according to various embodiments can include at least one or moreof the aforementioned components, omit some of them, or further includeadditional other components. Operations performed by a module, a programmodule, or other components according to various embodiments can beexecuted in a sequential, parallel, repetitive, or heuristic manner. Inaddition, some operations can be executed in a different order or beomitted, or other operations can be added.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of the structure of the electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments. Such a structure may be implemented inthe electronic device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 or the electronic device201 illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 4A, the electronic device 101 may include one or moreof a housing 400, an illumination sensor 240K, a Radio Frequency (RF)sensor 240N, a speaker 282, or a microphone 288.

The housing 400 may provide a space to accommodate the element (forexample, the illumination sensor 240K, the RF sensor 240N, the speaker282, or the microphone 288). The housing 400 may be implemented invarious formats. In some embodiments, the housing 400 may be implementedin the form disposed on a specific item (for example, a desktop typedevice) or in the form attached to a specific object (for example, awall-mounted device). In other embodiments, the housing 400 may beimplemented in a portable type (for example, a portable device) orimplemented to be included in an apparatus (for example, an integrateddevice).

FIG. 4A illustrates an example in which the housing 400 is implementedin a hexahedral shape, but this is only for description. The housing 400according to various embodiments may be implemented in other shapes aswell as the hexahedron. For example, the housing 400 may be implementedin a hexahedral shape, a spherical shape, a cylindrical shape, or aconic shape, having one or more chambers.

The housing 400 may include a plurality of faces. For example, thehousing 400 may include a top face 401 a, a bottom face 401 b, a frontface 401 c, a rear face 401 d, a left face 401 e, and a right face 401f.

The illumination sensor 240K may be used to measure illumination in anenvironment in which the electronic device 101 is located. Theillumination sensor 240K may receive light in order to measureillumination in an environment in which the electronic device 101 islocated. For example, the illumination sensor 240K may be configured tobe included in the top face 401 a or exposed to the top face 401 a toreceive light. FIG. 4A illustrates an example in which the illuminationsensor 240K is configured on the top face 401 a, but the configurationof the illumination sensor 240K is not limited thereto. For example, theillumination sensor 240K may be configured on one or more of the bottomface 401 b, the front face 401 c, the rear face 401 d, the left face 401e, or the right face 401 f.

The RF sensor 240N may acquire or detect an environment in which theelectronic device 101 is located or information on a specific objectwithin the environment through a Radio Frequency (RF) signal. Accordingto various embodiments, the RF sensor 240N may transmit an RF signal inorder to acquire, detect, or determine information on a user state. Theuser may be referred to as an object. The term “object” may indicate anentity having biological activity, such as a non-human animal. Accordingto various embodiments, the RF sensor 240N may receive a signal obtainedby reflection of the RF signal or a reflection signal of the RF signalin order to acquire, detect, or determine information on the user state.For example, the RF sensor 240N may be configured to be included in thefront face 401 c or exposed to the front face 401 c in order to transmitthe RF signal or receive the reflection signal of the RF signal. FIG. 4Aillustrates an example in which the RF sensor 240N is configured on thefront face 401 c, but the configuration of the RF sensor 240N is notlimited thereto. For example, the RF sensor 240N may be configured onone or more of the top face 401 a, the bottom face 401 b, the rear face401 d, the left face 401 e, or the right face 401 f.

According to embodiments, the RF sensor 240N may be referred to as abiometric signal detection sensor or a non-contact sensor.

The speaker 282 may be used to output an audio signal or a sound signal.The speaker 282 may provide a sound signal in the environment in whichthe electronic device 101 is located. For example, the speaker 282 maybe configured to be included in the front face 401 c or exposed to thefront face 401 c in order to output or transmit the sound signal. FIG.4A illustrates an example in which the speaker is configured on thefront face 401 c, but the configuration of the speaker 282 is notlimited thereto. For example, the speaker 282 may be configured on oneor more of the top face 401 a, the rear face 401 d, the left face 401 e,or the right face 401 f.

The microphone 288 may be used to receive a sound signal generated orcreated in the environment in which the electronic device 101 islocated. The microphone 288 may be configured to be included in thefront face 401 c or exposed to the front face 401 c in order to receiveor detect the sound signal. FIG. 4A illustrates an example in which themicrophone 288 is configured on the front face 401 c, but theconfiguration of the microphone 288 is not limited thereto. For example,the microphone 288 may be configured on one or more of the top face 401a, the bottom face 401 b, the rear face 401 d, the left face 401 e, orthe right face 401 f. According to some embodiments, the microphone 288may be implemented in a microphone array format including a plurality ofmicrophones as illustrated in FIG. 4A in order to differently configurea reception gain of the sound signal according to a direction.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example of an environment including an electronicdevice according to various embodiments. The environment may include theelectronic device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 or the electronic device 201illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 4B, an environment 410 may include the electronicdevice 101 and a designated area 420.

The electronic device 101 may include the RF sensor 240N. According toembodiments, the RF sensor 240N may be referred to as a transceiver or anon-contact sensor. According to some embodiments, the RF sensor 240Nmay be configured as the communication module 220 of FIG. 2.

The RF sensor 240N may be disposed around the designated area 420. Forexample, the RF sensor 240N may be disposed within a specific range fromthe designated area 420. The RF sensor 240N may be disposed to face thedesignated area 420. For example, the RF sensor 240N disposed on thefront face 401 c of the electronic device 101 may be located in adirection to the designated area 420. The RF sensor 240N may be disposedsuch that the coverage of the RF sensor 240N includes the designatedarea 420.

The RF sensor 240N may transmit or radiate an RF signal to thedesignated area 420. According to some embodiments, the RF sensor 240Nmay continuously transmit an RF signal to the designated area 420.According to other embodiments, the RF sensor 240N may transmit an RFsignal to the designated area 420 in every designated period. Accordingto an embodiment, the designated period may be configured as a fixedvalue. According to another embodiment, the designated period may beadaptively changed according to a mode of the electronic device 101 or astate of the environment 410.

The RF signal may be used to determine the state of the environment inwhich the electronic device 101 is located or the state of the userwithin the environment in which the electronic device 101 is located.According to some embodiments, the RF signal may be implemented in theform of a pulse wave. The RF sensor 240N may determine a state relatedto the electronic device 101 through the reflection signal of the RFsignal.

The RF sensor 240N may distinguish the RF signal from another signal byusing a Doppler effect of the RF signal or changing a frequency throughwhich the RF signal is transmitted according to a time. For example, theRF sensor 240N may identify the RF signal and a signal reflected fromthe RF signal by using a Doppler effect of the RF signal or changing afrequency through which the RF signal is transmitted according to atime.

The RF sensor 240N may receive a signal generated within the environment410. The signal generated within the environment 410 may include one ormore of the signal reflected from the RF signal (or the reflectionsignal of the RF signal) or the signal generated by the user. Forexample, the signal generated within the environment 410 is a signalreflected within the environment 410, and may include a reflectionsignal converted from the RF signal on the basis of a user speech orvoice, a reflection signal converted from the RF signal on the basis ofuser action, a reflection signal converted from the RF signal on thebasis of user breath, a signal converted from the RF signal on the basisof user pulse, and a signal converted from the RF signal on the basis ofuser heartbeat. In other words, the RF sensor 240N may receive a signalreflected from the user or the object located within the designated area420 or converted from the RF signal.

The designated area 420 may be associated with acquisition ofinformation or data. The designated area 420 may be a space in which theelectronic device 101 acquires information or data. The designated area420 may be a space in which the user is located. The designated area 420may be a destination of the RF signal transmitted from the RF sensor420N. The designated area 420 may be a space in which the reflectionsignal of the RF signal is generated.

The designated area 420 may be associated with sleep. The designatedarea 420 may be a space provided to the user for sleep. For example, theuser may fall asleep within the designated area 420. For example, thedesignated area 420 may correspond to an area in which a bed for theuser is disposed.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example in which the designated area 420 isconfigured in a rectangular shape having chamber-type edges, but this isonly for convenience of description. According to embodiments, it shouldbe noted that the designated area 420 is implemented in various shapessuch as an oval, a triangle, and a square.

According to various embodiments, the RF sensor 240N may radiate,transmit, or output the RF signal to the designated area 420. The RFsensor 240N may receive a reflection signal converted from the RFsignal. The conversion from the RF signal may be caused by thedesignated area 420 or an object (for example, the user) within thedesignated area 420.

As described above, the electronic device 101 according to variousembodiments may use the RF sensor 240 N disposed for the designated area420 to identify, detect, or determine the sleep state of the userlocated within the designated area 420. The electronic device 101according to various embodiments may use the RF sensor 240N to identify,detect, or determine the sleep state of the user located within thedesignated area 420 without user engagement or input.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of anelectronic device according to various embodiments. The functionalconfiguration may be included in the electronic device 101 illustratedin FIG. 1 or the electronic device 201 illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 5, the electronic device 101 may include one or moreof the processor 120, the memory 130, the communication module 220, thesensor module 240, the audio module 280, the speaker 282, the microphone288, or the camera module 291.

The processor 120 may control the overall operation of the electronicdevice 101. For example, the processor 120 may control one or more ofthe memory 130, the communication module 220, the sensor module 240, theaudio module 280, the speaker 282, the microphone 288, or the cameramodule 291 in order to determine the sleep state of the user. In anotherexample, the processor 120 may control one or more of the memory 130,the communication module 220, the sensor module 240, the audio module280, the speaker 282, the microphone 288, or the camera module 291 inorder to determine sleep latency of the user on the basis of thedetermined sleep state of the user. In another example, the processor120 may control one or more of the memory 130, the communication module220, the sensor module 240, the audio module 280, the speaker 282, themicrophone 288, or the camera module 291 in order to provide informationon the determined sleep latency of the user. For example, the processor120 may be an Application Processor (AP).

The processor 120 may be configured with various operation modes.According to some embodiments, the processor 120 may operate whilereceiving normal power (for example, receiving power higher than orequal to reference power). For example, the processor 120 may operate ina normal power mode or an active mode in which normal power is receivedfrom the electronic device 101. According to other embodiments, theprocessor 120 may operate while not receiving normal power (for example,receiving power lower than reference power) or while having restrictedcapability. For example, the processor 120 may operate in a low powermode, an idle mode, a sleep mode, or an inactive mode. When theprocessor 120 is configured as a plurality of processors, the processor120 may include an auxiliary processor for controlling the sensor module240. For example, the auxiliary processor may be the sensor hub 242. Thesensor hub 242 included in the processor 120 may normally operate in alow power state. For example, even though at least some of the pluralityof processors included in the processor 120 operate in the low powermode (or the idle mode, the sleep mode, or the inactive mode), thesensor hub 242 included in the processor 120 may operate in the normalmode or the active mode.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may control the RFsensor 240N to transmit the RF signal. For example, the processor 120may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 130 inorder to transmit the RF signal. The RF signal may be a reference signalfor determining a state of an environment (for example, the environment410 of FIG. 4B) in which the electronic device 101 is located. Forexample, the RF signal may be used to determine or identify whether theuser is located within the environment 410. The RF signal may be areference signal for determining the state of the user. For example, theRF signal may be used to identify one or more of a motion state, abreath state, or a pulse state of the user located within theenvironment 410. The RF signal may be configured in a format having apulse waveform or successive waveforms.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may transmit the RFsignal using transmission diversity. According to some embodiments, theprocessor 120 may transmit the RF signal through the Doppler effect.According to other embodiments, the processor 120 may transmit the RFsignal in a frequency changed according to the time.

According to other embodiments, the processor 120 may control the RFsensor 240N to transmit the RF signal in every designated period.According to an embodiment, the designated period may be a fixed value.

According to another embodiment, the designated period may be adaptivelychanged according to the state of the electronic device 101 or the stateof the environment 410 in which the electronic device 101 is located.For example, the processor 120 may control the RF sensor 240N totransmit the RF signal in every designated period (hereinafter, referredto as a first designated period) having a first length when theelectronic device 101 does not determine or identify that the user islocated within the designated area 420 in the environment 410 andcontrol the RF sensor 240N to transmit the RF signal in every designatedperiod (hereinafter, referred to as a second designated period) having asecond length when the electronic device 101 determines or identifiesthat the user is located within the designated area 420 in theenvironment 410. When the user is not located within the designated area420, the processor 120 may transmit the RF signal according to the firstdesignated period longer than the second designated period in order tomonitor whether the user is located within the designated area 420,thereby reducing power consumption due to transmission of the RF signal.When the user is located within the designated area 420, the processor120 may transmit the RF signal according to the second designated periodshorter than the first designated period in order to precisely monitorthe state of the user located within the designated area 420. In anotherexample, the processor 120 may change the designated period according towhether illumination measured by the illumination sensor 240K satisfiesa designated condition. For example, when the illumination measured bythe illumination sensor 240K is larger than or equal to a referencevalue, the processor 120 may transmit the RF signal according to thefirst designated period. In another example, when the illuminationmeasured by the illumination sensor 240K is smaller than the referencevalue, the processor 210 may transmit the RF signal according to thesecond designated period. In other words, when the environment 410 isbright, the processor 120 may determine that the user does not intend tosleep and thus transmit the RF signal according to the first designatedperiod in order to reduce power consumption. When the environment 410 isdark, the processor 120 may determine that the user intends to sleep andtransmit the RF signal according to the second designated period inorder to precisely identify the state of the user.

According to other embodiments, the processor 120 may control the RFsensor 240N to continuously or successively transmit the RF signal.

According to other embodiments, the processor 120 may transmit the RFsignal through one or more beams using one or more antennas. Forexample, the processor 120 may transmit the RF signal through the one ormore beams in a super high frequency band (mmWave, for example, 26 GHzor 60 GHz). When the processor 120 transmits the RF signal through theone or more beams, the RF sensor 240N may include an element (forexample, a circuitry) for transmitting the beams. The element fortransmitting beams will be described below with reference to FIGS. 6 and7.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may control the RFsensor 240N to receive a reflection signal of the RF signal. Thereflection signal may be signal converted from the RF signal on thebasis of the state of the environment 410 or the state of the designatedarea 420. The reflection signal may be a signal converted or distortedfrom the RF signal on the basis of the state of the user located in thedesignated area 420. For example, the transmitted RF signal may bedistorted or converted by one or more of motion of the user, breath ofthe user, and pulse of the user located in the designated area 420. Thedistorted or converted RF signal may be received by the RF sensor 240Nas the reflection signal. In other words, the reflection signal mayinclude one or more of a signal indicating the motion state of the user,a signal indicating the breath state of the user, or a signal indicatingthe pulse state of the user.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may process thereceived reflection signal.

According to some embodiments, the processor 120 may monitor a change inthe received reflection signal. For example, the processor 120 maymonitor whether the change in the reflection signal is out of adesignated range. In response to monitoring that the change in thereflection signal is out of the designated range, the processor 120 maydetermine that the user or the object is located within the designatedarea 420.

According to other embodiments, the processor 120 may identify one ormore signals from the received reflection signal. The processor 120 mayidentify one or more of the signal indicating the motion state of theuser, the signal indicating the breath state of the user, or the signalindicating the pulse state of the user located within the designatedarea 420 from the reflection signal by filtering the received reflectionsignal. For the filtering, the processor 120 may control a plurality offilters (for example, a low pass filter, a high pass filter, and a bandpass filter) included in the RF sensor 240N. For example, the processor120 may identify the signal indicating a heartbeat of the user from thereceived reflection signal through the high pass filter included in theRF sensor 240N. In another example, the processor 120 may identify thesignal indicating breath of the user from the received reflection signalthrough the low pass filter included in the RF sensor 240N.

The operation of identifying one or more signals may be triggered byvarious conditions. For example, in response to identification that thechange in the reflection signal is out of the designated range, theprocessor 120 may identify the one or more signals from the reflectionsignal. In other words, the processor 120 may determine that the user islocated within the designated area 420 by identifying that the change inthe reflection signal is out of the designated range. In response to thedetermination, the processor 120 may trigger identification of the oneor more signals from the reflection signal. By triggering theidentification of the one or more signals in response to thedetermination, the processor 120 may reduce power consumption due to theidentification of the one or more signals.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may analyze the oneor more identified signals. The processor 120 may determine one or morevalues indicating the state of the user located in the designated area420 on the basis of the one or more identified signals. For example, theprocessor 120 may acquire or determine a mean value and a median valueof amplitudes (degrees or values) of the signals indicating the motionstate of the user in a plurality of intervals (or epochs) having aspecific length. The processor 120 may determine one or more valuesindicating the motion state of the user in the plurality of intervals onthe basis of the acquired or determined mean value or median value. Theone or more values may be referred to as feature values or processedvalues according to embodiments. In another example, the processor 120may detect a plurality of peak time points from the signal indicatingthe breath state of the user. The processor 120 may determine one ormore values indicating the breath state of the user on the basis of theinterval between the plurality of detected peak time points. In anotherexample, the processor 120 may detect a plurality of peak time pointsfrom the signal indicating the pulse state of the user. The processor120 may determine one or more values indicating the pulse state of theuser on the basis of an interval between the plurality of detected peaktime points. A detailed description of the operation for analyzing theone or more signals (for example, the signal indicating the motion stateof the user, the signal indicating the breath state of the user, and thesignal indicating the pulse state of the user) will be made below withreference to FIGS. 15 to 18.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may store data onthe one or more signals in the memory 130 or temporarily store the same.For example, the processor 120 may store data on the one or more signalsin the memory 130 or temporarily store the same in order to determine atime point at which the user actually begins sleeping. In anotherexample, the processor 120 may store data on the one or more signals inthe memory 130 or temporarily store the same in order to determine atime point at which the user intends to sleep. The operation for storingthe data on the one or more signals in the memory 130 or temporarilystore the same may be triggered by various conditions. For example, inresponse to monitoring that the change in the reflection signal is outof the designated range, the processor 120 may store the data on the oneor more signals in the memory 130 or temporarily store the same. Inanother example, in response to identification of the one or moresignals from the reflection signal, the processor 120 may store the dataon the one or more signals in the memory 130 or temporarily store thesame.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may determine thetime point at which the user actually begins sleeping on the basis ofone or more values indicating the state of the user located in thedesignated area 420 (for example, the motion state of the user, thebreath state of the user, and the pulse state of the user). Theprocessor 120 may determine a probability of the sleep state of the useron the basis of the one or more values. According to some embodiments,the processor 120 may determine a time point at which the size of thedetermined probability reaches a reference value as the time point atwhich the user actually begins sleeping. According to other embodiments,the processor 120 may determine a time point at which a change in thedetermined probability according to the time is smaller than a referencevalue as the time point at which the user actually begins sleeping.According to other embodiments, the processor 120 may determine a timepoint at which the change in the determined probability according to thetime is smaller than a first reference value and the size of thedetermined probability reaches a second reference value as the time atwhich the user actually begins sleeping. A detailed description of theoperation for determining the time point at which the user actuallybegins sleeping will be made with reference to FIGS. 15 and 19.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may determine thetime point at which the user intends to sleep on the basis of one ormore values indicating the state of the user located in the designatedarea 420. The processor 120 may determine a possibility of the sleepstate of the user on the basis of the one or more values. According tosome embodiments, the processor 120 may determine a time point at whichthe size of the determined probability reaches a specific value as thetime point at which the user intends to sleep. According to otherembodiments, the processor 120 may determine a time point at which achange in the determined probability according to the time is largerthan a specific value as the time point at which the user intends tosleep. According to other embodiments, the processor 120 may determine atime point at which the change in the determined probability accordingto the time reaches a first specific value and the change in thedetermined probability according to time is smaller than a secondspecific value as the time at which the user intends to sleep. Theoperation for determining the time point at which the user intends tosleep may be triggered in response to determination of the time point atwhich the user actually begins sleeping. For example, in response todetermination of the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping, the processor 120 may monitor or inquire about the data on theone or more signals stored in the memory 130. The processor 120 maydetermine the time point at which the user intends to sleep by analyzingthe monitored or inquired data. A detailed description of the operationfor determining the time point at which the user intends to sleep willbe made with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may determine sleeplatency of the user on the basis of the determined time point at whichthe user intends to sleep and the determined time point at which theuser actually begins sleeping. The sleep latency may indicate a timeinterval in which the user makes an effort to fall asleep. The sleeplatency may be a parameter indicating a quality of a sleep of the userlocated within the designated area 420. For example, the sleep latencymay be a parameter for identifying whether the user has insomnia. Inanother example, the sleep latency may be a parameter for monitoringwhether the user is required to take sleeping pill. The processor 120may determine a time interval from the determined time point at whichthe user intends to sleep to the determined time point at which the useractually begins sleeping as the sleep latency.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may processinformation on the determined sleep latency of the user. In order to usethe information on the determined sleep latency of the user, theprocessor 120 may process the information on the sleep latency. Forexample, the processor 120 may store the information on the sleeplatency of the user in the memory 130 or temporarily store the same. Inanother example, the processor 120 may transmit the information on thesleep latency of the user to another electronic device (or an externalelectronic device, for example, the electronic device 102, theelectronic device 104, or the server 106) linked to the electronicdevice 101. In another example, the processor 120 may display theinformation on the sleep latency of the user on the display 160 oroutput the same through the speaker 282.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may provideinformation on the reflection signal received through the RF sensor 240Nto another electronic device (for example, the electronic device 102,the electronic device 104, or the server 106). The processor 120 maycontrol the communication module 220 to transmit the information on thereflection signal received through the RF sensor 240N to anotherelectronic device. When the processor 120 transmits the information onthe reflection signal to the other electronic device, an operation forprocessing the reflection signal (for example, an operation fordetermining initiation of a sleep of the user, an operation fordetermining a time point at which the user intends to sleep, anoperation for determining a sleep latency of the user, and an operationfor determining a sleep duration time of the user) may be performed bythe other electronic device. In other words, the information on thereflection signal may be used by the other electronic device in order toprocess the reflection signal.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may change the modeof the electronic device related to sleep. According to someembodiments, the processor 120 may change the operation mode of theelectronic device 101 into the sleep mode on the basis of thedetermination to initiate sleep by the user located within thedesignated area 420. The sleep mode may be a mode for activating thefunction of the electronic device for the user's sleep. The sleep modemay be a mode for assisting the user in maintaining sleep. According toan embodiment, the processor 120 may change the operation mode of theelectronic device 101 into the sleep mode in response to thedetermination of the time point at which the user initiates sleep. Forexample, the processor 120 may change a sound signal output through thespeaker 282 of the electronic device 101 in response to thedetermination of the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping. The changed sound signal may be related to music for assistingthe user in maintaining sleep. In another example, the processor 120 maycontrol a brightness of a lighting output by a lighting device (notshown) included in the electronic device 101 in response to thedetermination of the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping. In another example, the processor 120 may control thecommunication module 220 (for example, the cellular module 221, theWi-Fi module 223, the BT module 225, or the NFC module 228) to transmita signal for changing the brightness of the lighting device locatedwithin the environment 410 to the lighting device located within theenvironment 410 in response to the determination of the time point atwhich the user actually begins sleeping. The lighting device locatedwithin the environment 410 may control the brightness of output light onthe basis of reception of the signal.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may control theillumination sensor 240K in order to measure the brightness of theenvironment 410. The brightness of the environment 410 measured by theillumination sensor 240K may be used to determine the state of theenvironment 410 or the state of the user located within the designatedarea 420. For example, the processor 120 may determine the state of theuser located within the designated area 420 on the basis of at leastsome of the information on the reflection signal received through the RFsensor 240N and the information on the brightness.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may control themicrophone 288 in order to receive a sound signal caused within theenvironment 410 or a sound signal caused by the user within thedesignated area 420. The sound signal received through the microphone288 may be used to determine the state of the environment 410 or thestate of the user located within the designated area 420. The processor120 may analyze the received sound signal. For example, the processor120 may determine the state of the user located within the designatedarea 420 on the basis of at least some of the information on the soundsignal received through the microphone 288, the information on thereflection signal received through the RF sensor 240N, and theinformation on the brightness measured by the illumination sensor 240K.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may control thecamera module 291 in order to acquire an image of the environment 410 oran image of the user within the designated area 420. The image acquiredby the camera module 291 may be used to determine the state of theenvironment 410 or the state of the user located within the designatedarea 420. The processor 120 may analyze the acquired image. For example,the processor 120 may determine the state of the user located within thedesignated area 420 on the basis of at least some of the information onthe image acquired through the camera module 291, the information on thesound signal received through the microphone 288, the information on thereflection signal received through the RF sensor 240N, and theinformation on the brightness measured by the illumination sensor 240K.

According to various embodiments, the processor 210 may control thecommunication module 220 in order to receive a signal from an externalelectronic device (for example, the electronic device 102, theelectronic device 104, or the server 106). The processor 120 may controlthe BT module 225 within the communication module 220 to receive asignal from a wearable device which the user is wearing. The processor120 may determine that the user is located within the designated area420 on the basis of reception of the signal.

The memory 130 may execute instructions stored in the memory 130 on thebasis of signaling with the processor 120.

The memory 130 may store instructions for determining information on thestate of the environment 410 or the state of the user within thedesignated area 420.

According to various embodiments, the memory 130 may store one or moreinstructions for extracting or identifying data from one or more signalsindicating the state of the user identified on the basis of the receivedreflection signal.

The memory 130 may include a feature value instruction 510 foridentifying one or more values indicating the state of the user on thebasis of the one or more signals. For example, the memory 130 mayinclude, as the feature value identification instruction 510, one ormore of an instruction for identifying a feature value indicating amotion state of the user, an instruction for identifying a feature valueindicating a breath state of the user, or an instruction for identifyinga feature value indicating a pulse state of the user.

The memory 130 may include a probability calculation instruction 520 fordetermining a probability that the user is in the sleep state on thebasis of one or more feature values identified using the feature valueidentification instruction command 510.

The memory 130 may include a parameter determination instruction 530 fordetermining a sleep parameter. The sleep parameter may be a factor fordetermining a sleep state of the user or a sleep quality of the user.For example, the sleep parameter may be a time point at which the useractually begins sleeping, a time point at which the user intends tosleep, a sleep latency of the user, or a time for which the usercontinues to sleep. The memory 130 may include, as the parameterdetermination instruction 530, one or more of an instruction fordetermining the time point at which the user actually begins sleeping,the instruction for determining the time point at which the user intendsto sleep, an instruction for determining the sleep latency of the user,and an instruction for determining the time for which the user continuesto sleep.

The communication module 220 may be used for communication between anexternal electronic device (for example, the electronic device 102, theelectronic device 104, or the server 106) and the electronic device 101.According to some embodiments, the communication module 220 may receivea signal from a wearable device which the user is wearing through aBluetooth communication path or a Wi-Fi communication path. The signalmay indicate that the user is located within the designated area 420.The communication module 220 may provide the received signal to theprocessor 120. According to other embodiments, the communication module220 may transmit a signal to another electronic device (for example, theelectronic device 102, the electronic device 104, or the server 106)linked to the electronic device 101 through a cellular communicationpath, a Wi-Fi communication path, or a BT communication path. The signalmay include information related to the sleep of the user. For example,the signal may include information on the sleep latency of the user. Inanother example, the signal may include information indicating the useractually begins sleeping. In another example, the signal may includeinformation for changing the mode of the external electronic device intoa mode related to the sleep of the user.

The sensor module 240 may be used to acquire information on the state ofthe environment 410 or information on the state of the user locatedwithin the designated area 420. For example, the illumination sensor240K may receive light of the environment 410 or light of the designatedarea 420 through a light-receiving unit. The illumination sensor 240Kmay provide information on the received light to the processor 120. Inanother example, the RF sensor 240N may transmit an RF signal or receivea reflection signal of the RF signal. The RF sensor 240N may provideinformation on the received reflection signal to the processor 120.According to some embodiments, the RF sensor 240N may be included in thecommunication module 220. For example, the RF sensor 240N may bedisposed within the communication module 220, or the RF sensor 240N andthe communication module 220 may be disposed as separate modules asillustrated in FIG. 5.

The audio module 280 may process a sound signal received through themicrophone 288. For example, the audio module 280 may remove noiseincluded in the voice signal received through the microphone 288 orconvert the voice signal received through the microphone 288 (forexample, ADC (analog-to-digital)). The audio module 280 may provide theprocessed voice signal to the processor 120.

The audio module 280 may process a sound signal output through thespeaker 282. For example, the audio module 280 may convert a soundsignal received from the processor 120.

The microphone 288 may be used to receive a voice signal caused withinthe environment 410 or a voice signal caused by the user located withinthe designated area 420. The microphone 288 may provide the voice signalreceived by the processor 120 through the audio module 280.

The speaker 282 may output the sound signal to the environment 410 orthe designated area 420. For example, the speaker 282 may output thesound signal provided from the processor 120 through the audio module280.

The camera module 291 may be used to acquire an image. For example, thecamera module 291 may acquire an image of the user located within thedesignated area 420 according to a predetermined period. The acquiredimage may be used to analyze the sleep state of the user. The cameramodule 291 may include a circuit (for example, an image processor) forprocessing the acquired image. The camera module 291 may provideinformation on the acquired image to the processor 120.

As described above, the electronic device 101 according to variousembodiments may determine the sleep state of the user located within thedesignated area 420 through the RF sensor 240N. The electronic device101 may determine the sleep latency of the user without any interventionof the user or user input. For example, the electronic device 101 maydetermine that a time interval between the time point at which the userintends to sleep and the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping is the sleep latency of the user without any intervention ofthe user or user input. By determining the sleep latency, the electronicdevice 101 may provide a solution related to sleep.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of the RFsensor according to various embodiments. The functional configuration ofthe RF sensor may be included in the RF sensor 240N illustrated in FIG.5.

Referring to FIG. 6, the RF sensor 240N may include a signal generator610, a digital beamforming unit 620, a plurality of transmission paths630-1 to 630-N, and an analog beamforming unit 640.

The signal generator 610 may generate an RF signal. The signal generator610 may generate an RF signal for determining the state of the user oran object located within the designated area 420. The signal generator610 may generate the RF signal in a digital format.

The digital beamforming unit 620 may perform bemforming on the RF signalhaving the digital format. To this end, the digital beamforming unit 620may multiply beamforming weighted values by digital data included in theRF signal. The beamforming weighted values may be used to change thesize and phase of the signal, and may be referred to as a “precodingmatrix” or a “precoder”. The digital beamforming unit 620 may output thedigitally beamformed RF signal to at least one of the plurality oftransmission paths 630-1 to 630-N. According to some embodiments, the RFsignal may be multiplexed according to a Multiple Input Multiple Output(MIMO) transmission scheme. According to other embodiments, the digitalbeamforming unit 620 may output the same RF signals used for a diversitygain to at least of the plurality of transmission paths 630-1 to 630-N.

The plurality of transmission paths 630-1 to 630-N may convert digitallybeamformed RF signals into analog signals. To this end, each of theplurality of transmission paths 630-1 to 630-N may include a DigitalAnalog Converter (DAC) and an up converter. In other words, theplurality of transmission paths 630-1 to 630-N may provide anindependent signal processing process for a plurality of RF signals (oroutput modulation symbols) generated through the digital beamforming.According to an implementation type, some of the elements of theplurality of transmission paths 630-1 to 630-N may be used in common.

The analog beamforming unit 640 may perform beamforming on an RF signalhaving an analog format. To this end, the analog beamforming unit 640may multiply beamforming weighted values by RF signals having the analogformat. The beamforming weighted values may be parameters for changingthe size and phase of the signals. Specifically, the analog beamformingunit 640 may be configured as illustrated in FIG. 7 according to theplurality of transmission paths 630-1 to 630-N and the connectionstructure between antennas.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the functional configuration of theanalog beamforming unit according to various embodiments. The functionalconfiguration may be included in the analog beamforming unit 640 of FIG.6.

Referring to FIG. 7, signals input into the analog beamforming unit 640may be transmitted through antennas via phase/size conversion andamplification operation. The signals of the respective paths may betransmitted through different antenna sets, that is, antenna arrays. Inconsideration of processing of a signal input through a first path, thesignal may be converted into signal sequences having different or thesame phase/size by phase/size converters 750-1-1 to 750-1-M, amplifiedby amplifiers 760-1-1 to 760-1-M, and then transmitted through antennas.

As described above, the electronic device according to variousembodiments may include: a biometric signal detection sensor configuredto acquire first biometric information and second biometric informationon an object outside the electronic device; and a processor, and theprocessor may be configured to acquire the first biometric informationand the second biometric information through the biometric signaldetection sensor, identify a first change of the first biometricinformation and a second change of the second biometric information,determine a state of the object related to a sleep on the basis of atleast a portion of the first change and the second change, and estimatea sleep latency related to the object on the basis of at least a portionof the state.

According to some embodiments, the biometric signal detection sensor mayinclude an RF sensor, and the processor may be configured to acquiremotion information of the object through the RF sensor and estimate thesleep latency on the basis of at least a portion of the first change,the second change, or the motion information.

According to other embodiments, the electronic device may furtherinclude an image sensor, and the processor may be configured to acquireimage information of the object through the image sensor, acquire motioninformation of the object on the basis of at least a portion of theacquired image information, and estimate the sleep latency on the basisof at least a portion of the first change, the second change, or themotion information.

According to other embodiments, the first biometric information mayinclude information on breath of the object, and the second biometricinformation may include information on a heart rate of the object.

The electronic device according to various embodiments may include: acommunication circuit; and a processor, and the processor may beconfigured to receive first biometric information and second biometricinformation on an external object measured by an external electronicdevice through the communication circuit, identify a first change of thefirst biometric information and a second change of the second biometricinformation, determine a state of the object related to a sleep on thebasis of at least a portion of the first change and the second change,and estimate a sleep latency related to the object on the basis of atleast a portion of the state.

The electronic device according to various embodiments may include: amemory configured to store instructions; an RF sensor configured totransmit a Radio Frequency (RF) signal and receive a reflection signalof the RF signal; and one or more processors coupled to the RF sensorand the memory and configured to execute the stored instructions inorder to identify one or more signals indicating a state of a userwithin the received reflection signal, monitor a change (difference) indata determined on the basis of the one or more signals according to atime, determine that a time point at which the user actually beginssleeping is a first time point at which the monitored change is smallerthan a first reference value, determine that a time point at which theuser intends to sleep is a second time point at which the monitoredchange is larger than a second reference value, determine that a sleeplatency of the user is a time interval between the first time point andthe second time point, and store information on the determined timeinterval.

According to some embodiments, the one or more processors may beconfigured to execute the stored instructions in order to monitor thereceived reflection signal, identify the one or more signals within thereceived reflection signal in response to monitoring that a change inthe reflection signal is output of a predetermined range, and store thedata in the memory or temporarily store the data in response tomonitoring that the change in the reflection signal is output of thepredetermined range. For example, the predetermined range may beconfigured to identify whether the user is located in a specified area.In another example, the one or more processors may be configured toexecute the stored instructions in order to identify the stored data inresponse to the determination that the time point at which the useractually begins sleeping is the first time point, identify the secondtime point at which the change within the stored data is larger than thesecond reference value, and determine that the time point at which theuser intends to sleep is the second time point.

According to other embodiments, the one or more signals may include afirst signal indicating motion of the user, a second signal indicating abreath state of the user, or a third signal indicating a heartbeat stateof the user. For example, the one or more processors may be configuredto execute the stored instructions in order to acquire a first valueindicating the motion of the user from the first signal, acquire asecond value indicating the breath state of the user from the secondsignal, acquire a third value indicating the heartbeat state of the userfrom the third signal, and determine that a probability of a sleep stateof the user is the data on the basis of at least a portion of the firstvalue, the second value, and the third value.

According to other embodiments, the RF sensor may include a plurality offilters, and the one or more processors may be configured to execute thestored instructions in order to identify the first signal related to afirst band within the received reflection signal through a first filterin the plurality of filters, identify the second signal related to asecond band within the received reflection signal through a secondfilter in the plurality of filters, and identify the third signalrelated to a third band within the received reflection signal through athird filter in the plurality of filters.

According to other embodiments, the electronic device may furtherinclude an illumination sensor configured to measure illumination oflight around the electronic device and a microphone configured toreceive a sound signal around the electronic device, and the one or moreprocessors may be further configured to execute the stored instructionsin order to determine a time point at which the user actually beginssleeping on the basis of at least a portion of information on theillumination and information on the sound signal and determine a timepoint at which the user intends to sleep on the basis of at least aportion of the information on the illumination and the information onthe sound signal.

According to other embodiments, the electronic device may furtherinclude a circuit configured to control a brightness of an environmentin which the electronic device is located, and the one or moreprocessors may be configured to further configured to execute the storedinstructions in order to control the brightness of the environment inwhich the electronic device is located in response to the determinationof the time point at which the user actually begins sleeping.

According to other embodiments, the electronic device may furtherinclude a communication interface configured to communicate with anexternal electronic device, and the one or more processors may befurther configured to execute the stored instructions in order totransmit information on the determined time interval to the externalelectronic device.

According to other embodiments, the electronic device may furtherinclude a speaker configured to output a sound signal, and the one ormore processors may be further configured execute the storedinstructions in order to change the output sound signal in response tothe determination of the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping.

According to other embodiments, the RF sensor may include a transmissioncircuit configured to transmit the RF signal through a plurality ofbeams and a plurality of antennas, and the one or more processors may beconfigured to execute the stored instructions in order to transmit theRF signal through the plurality of beams.

FIG. 8A illustrates an example of the operation of an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments. The operation may be performed by theelectronic device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 or the element (for example,the processor 120) of the electronic device 101.

Referring to FIG. 8A, in operation 801, the processor 120 may acquirefirst biometric information and second biometric information. Forexample, the processor 120 may receive a reflection signal of an RFsignal transmitted through the RF sensor. The processor 120 may receivethe first biometric information and the second biometric informationwithin the reflection signal. The first biometric information and thesecond biometric information may include data indicating the state ofthe environment 410 or the state of an object located with thedesignated area 420. For example, one or more pieces of the firstbiometric information and the second biometric information may includeone or more pieces of data indicating a motion state of the object, dataindicating a breath state of the object, or data indicating a heartbeatstate of the object.

In operation 802, the processor 120 may identify a first change of theacquired first biometric information and a second change of the acquiredsecond biometric information. For example, the processor 120 mayidentify whether the first biometric information and the secondbiometric information increase, the first biometric information and thesecond biometric information decrease, or the changes of the firstbiometric information and the second biometric information are largerthan or equal to the reference size.

In operation 803, the processor 120 may determine the state of theobject related to sleep on the basis of at least some of the firstchange and the second change. For example, the processor 120 maydetermine that the object is currently moving on the basis of at leastsome of the first change and the second change. In another example, theprocessor 120 may determine that the object is not currently moving onthe basis of at least some of the first change and the second change. Inanother example, the processor 120 may determine that the heartbeat ofthe object is currently in a resting heart rate state on the basis of atleast some of the first change and the second change. In anotherexample, the processor 120 may identify that the breath state of theobject is in a regular or uniform state on the basis of at least some ofthe first change and the second change.

In operation 804, the processor 120 may estimate the sleep latencyrelated to the object on the basis of at least a portion of the state.The sleep latency may be a time interval from the time point at whichthe object intends to sleep to the time point at which the objectactually begins sleeping. The processor 120 may identify that the stateof the object is changed from the moving state to the non-moving state,that the heartbeat state of the object is changed to the resting heartrate state, or that the breath state of the object is changed to theregular state on the basis of at least a portion of the state. Theprocessor 120 may estimate the sleep latency related to the object onthe basis of the identification.

FIG. 8B illustrates another example of the operation of the electronicdevice according to various embodiments. The operation may be performedby the electronic device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 or the element (forexample, the processor 120) of the electronic device 101.

Referring to FIG. 8B, in operation 810, the processor 120 may identifyone or more signals within a reflection signal. The reflection signalmay be a reflection signal of an RF signal transmitted by the RF sensor240N. One or more signals included in the reflection signal may indicatethe state of the environment 410 or the state of the user or the objectlocated within the designated area 420. For example, the one or moresignals may include one or more of a signal indicating a motion state ofthe user, a signal indicating a breath state of the user, or a signalindicating a heartbeat state of the user. The processor 120 may identifythe one or more signals within the reflection signal through a pluralityof filters included in the RF sensor 240N of the electronic device 101.

According to some embodiments, when the RF sensor 240N does not includea plurality of filters, the processor 120 may receive information on thereflection signal from the RF sensor 240N. The processor 120 mayidentify or extract information on the one or more signals from thereceived information on the reflection signal.

According to some embodiments, the processor 120 may identify the one ormore signals within the reflection signal in response to monitoring thata change in the reflection signal is output of a predetermined range. Inother words, the processor 120 may trigger the identification of the oneor more signals within the reflection signal in response to monitoringthat the change in the reflection signal is output of the predeterminedrange. By performing the operation of monitoring the change in thereflection signal before the operation of identifying the one or moresignals within the reflection signal, the processor 120 may save powerconsumed by the determination of the state of the environment 410 or thestate of the user located within the designated area 420.

In operation 820, the processor 120 may monitor a change in datadetermined on the basis of the one or more identified signals accordingto the time. The data may be a value indicating the state of the userlocated within the environment 410 or the designated area 420. The stateof the user may be relevant to the sleep of the user. For example, thedata may be determined on the basis of at least one of one or morevalues (hereinafter, a first value) indicating the motion state of theuser, one or more values (hereinafter, a second value) indicating thebreath state of the user, or one or more values (hereinafter, a thirdvalue) indicating the heartbeat state of the user. For example, the datamay be a probability indicating the sleep state of the user determinedon the basis of one or more of the first value, the second value, or thethird value. The probability may indicate a possibility of the sleepstate of the user. A minimum value of the probability may be 0%(percent), and a maximum value of the probability may be 100%. Forexample, when the determined probability is a %, the possibility of thesleep state of the user may be higher than the possibility of the sleepstate of the user in the case in which the probability is b % smallerthan a %. The processor 120 may monitor or identify a change in thedetermined probability according to the time in real time.

In operation 830, the processor 120 may determine a time point at whichthe user actually begins sleeping. The processor 120 may determine thetime point at which the user actually begins sleeping as a time point atwhich the monitored change in the data according to the time is smallerthan a first reference value. The first reference value may be used todetermine how much the state of the user related to sleep is stable. Thefirst reference value may be used to determine whether the user actuallybegins sleeping. According to embodiments, the first reference value maybe a fixed value or may be an adaptively changed value. For example, thefirst reference value may be adaptively changed for each place in whichthe electronic device 101 is located, for each user using the electronicdevice 101, or each time period during which the electronic device 101operates on the basis of machine learning of the electronic device 101or machine learning of another electronic device linked to theelectronic device 101 through communication. Since the data may berelevant to the probability, the large change in the data according tothe time may indicate that the user is highly likely to conduct anaction other than sleep. The processor 120 may determine whether theuser actually begins sleeping by monitoring the time point at which thechange in the data according to the time is smaller than the firstreference value.

According to some embodiments, the processor 120 may determine the timepoint at which the user actually begins sleeping in furtherconsideration of the absolute size of the data. For example, when themonitored change in the data according to the time is smaller than thefirst reference value but the absolute size of the data is larger thanor equal to a threshold value, the processor 120 may determine that theuser does not actually begin sleeping. In this case, the processor 120may determine that the time point at which the absolute size of the datais smaller than the threshold value and the change in the data accordingto the time is smaller than the first reference value is the time pointat which the user actually begins sleeping. A detailed description ofoperation 830 will be made below with reference to FIGS. 15 to 19.

In operation 840, the processor 120 may determine the time point atwhich the user intends to sleep. The processor 120 may determine thatthe time point at which the user intends to sleep is a second time pointat which the monitored change in the data according to the time islarger than a second reference value. The second reference value may beused to determine how much the state of the user related to sleep ischanged. The second reference value may be used to determine how muchthe probability of the sleep state of the user increases. According toembodiments, like the first reference value, the second reference valuemay be a fixed value or an adaptively changed value. Since the data maybe relevant to the probability, the rapid increase in the change in thedata according to the time may be associated with the time point atwhich the user intends to sleep. The processor 120 may determine whetherthe user intends to sleep by monitoring the time point at which thechange in the data according to the time is larger than the secondreference value.

According to some embodiments, the processor 120 may determine that atime point at which a maximum increase among the changes in the dataaccording to the time within a predetermined (or specified) timeinterval before the determined time point at which the user actuallybegins sleeping is the time point at which the user intends to sleep. Tothis end, the processor 120 may control the memory 130 to storeinformation related to the data in response to operation 810 or 820.

A detailed description of operation 840 will be made below withreference to FIGS. 15 to 19.

FIG. 8 illustrates that the processor 120 performs operation 840 afteroperation 830, but this is only for convenience of description.Operations 840 and 830 may be performed in parallel, or in reverseorder. For example, after determining that the time point at which thechange in the data according to the time is larger than the secondreference value is the time point at which the user intends to sleep,the processor 120 may determine that the time point at which the changein the data according to the time is smaller than the first referencevalue is the time point at which the user actually begins sleeping. Inanother example, after storing information on the change in the dataaccording to the time, the processor 120 may determine the time point atwhich the user intends to sleep and the time point at which the useractually begins sleeping by analyzing the stored information. In anotherexample, the processor 120 may store the information on the data with atriggering condition of operation 810 or operation 820. The processor120 may determine the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping while the information on the data is stored. The processor 120may determine the time point at which the user intends to sleep on thebasis of the stored information with a triggering condition of thedetermination of the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping.

In operation 850, the processor 120 may determine or estimate the sleeplatency of the user. The sleep latency may be a time interval betweenthe time point at which the user intends to sleep and the time point atwhich the user actually begins sleeping.

In operation 860, the processor 120 may store information on thedetermined sleep latency. The processor 120 may store the information onthe determined sleep latency in the memory 130 or temporarily store theinformation in a buffer. According to some embodiments, the processor120 may store the information on the sleep latency in the memory 130 ortemporarily store the information in order to provide the information onthe sleep latency to another electronic device (for example, theelectronic device 102, the electronic device 104, or the server 106).According to other embodiments, the processor 120 may store theinformation on the sleep latency in the memory 130 or temporarily storethe information in order to transfer the information on the sleeplatency (for example, display or output the information on the sleeplatency) to the user.

FIG. 8 illustrates that the processor 120 included in the electronicdevice 101 performs operations 810 to 860, but this is only conveniencefor description. The processor 120 of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments may control the communication module220 to transmit information (for example, information related to thedata) on the reflection signal related to the RF signal transmittedthrough the RF sensor 240N to another electronic device (for example,the electronic device 102, the electronic device 104, or the server106). In this case, at least some of operations 810 to 860 may beperformed by another electronic device (for example, the electronicdevice 102, the electronic device 104, or the server 106) receiving theinformation on the reflection signal.

Although FIG. 8 illustrates the operation in which the processor 120 ofthe electronic device 101 according to various embodiments acquires ordetermines the information related to the sleep of the user on the basisof the information acquired by the RF sensor 240N, the processor 120 mayacquire or determine the information related to the sleep of the userfurther on the basis of information received through other sensingdevices (for example, the illumination sensor 240K, the camera module291, and the microphone 288) included in the electronic device 101.

As described above, the electronic device 101 according to variousembodiments may acquire information on the parameter related to thesleep of the user by just including the RF sensor 240N without anyindependent user input for measuring the sleep state of the user. Forexample, the electronic device 101 may determine the sleep latency ofthe user without any user input on the basis of the reflection signalreceived through the RF sensor 240N.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor identifying one or more signals within the reflection signalaccording to various embodiments. The operation of the electronic devicemay be performed by the electronic device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 oran element (for example, the processor 120) included in the electronicdevice 101.

In FIG. 9, operations 910 to 970 may be relevant to operation 810 ofFIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 9, in operation 910, the processor 120 may identifythat illumination measured by the illumination sensor 240K included inthe electronic device 101 meets a predetermined condition. For example,the illumination sensor 240K may receive light of the environment 410.The illumination sensor 240K may provide information on the light of theenvironment 410 to the processor 120. The processor 120 may determineillumination of the environment 410 on the basis of the providedinformation on the light. The processor 120 may compare the determinedillumination with predetermined illumination. The predeterminedillumination may be used to determine whether a brightness of a lightingdevice located within the environment 410 is changed for sleep. Thepredetermined illumination may be adaptively changed according to anenvironment. The processor 120 may identify that the determinedillumination is smaller than the predetermined illumination on the basisof the comparison result. The processor 120 may identify that theillumination meets the predetermined condition on the basis of theidentification that the determined illumination is smaller than thepredetermined illumination. Operation 910 may be omitted according toembodiments.

In operation 920, the processor 120 may transmit the RF signal throughthe RF sensor 240N. The processor 120 may change the operation state ofthe RF sensor 240N from an inactive state (or an idle state) to anactive state in response to the identification that the illuminationmeets the predetermined condition. According to some embodiments, theprocessor 120 may perform control to transmit the RF signal through theRF sensor 240N according to a predetermined period. According to otherembodiments, the processor 120 may perform control to continuouslytransmit the RF signal through the RF sensor 240N. The processor 120 maysave power consumed by the RF sensor 240N by activating the RF sensor240N on the basis of the condition indicating whether the illuminationmeets the predetermined condition.

In operation 930, the processor 120 may control the RF sensor 240N toreceive a reflection signal of the RF signal. The reflection signal maybe received through one or more antennas included in the RF sensor 240N.

In operation 940, the processor 120 may monitor the received reflectionsignal. The processor 120 may monitor the reflection signal in order toidentify a change in the reflection signal. The processor 120 maymonitor the received reflection signal in order to determine whether theuser or the object is located within the designated area 420. Forexample, the processor 120 may compare the received reflection signalwith the RF signal. In this case, the RF signal may be used as areference signal for determining the degree or size of the change in thereflection signal. The processor 120 may monitor whether a differencebetween the reflection signal and the RF signal is out of apredetermined range. In another example, the processor 120 may compare acurrently received reflection signal with a reflection signal receivedbefore a specific time interval from now. The processor 120 may monitorwhether a difference between the previously received reflection signaland the currently received reflection signal is out of a predeterminedrange.

In operation 950, the processor 120 may determine that the user or theobject is located within the designated area 420 in response tomonitoring that the change in the reflection signal is output of thepredetermined range. A characteristic or attribute of the reflectionsignal received by the electronic device 101 in the state in which theuser enters the designated area 420 may be different form acharacteristic or attribute of the reflection signal received by theelectronic device 101 in the state in which the user does not enter thedesignated area 420. The processor 120 may determine whether the user orthe object is located within the designated area 420 by monitoring thatthe change in the reflection signal is out of the predetermined range.

In operation 960, the processor 120 may identify one or more signalswithin the reflection signal through one or more filters within the RFSensor 240N in response to the determination that the user is locatedwithin the designated area. For example, the processor 120 may transmitcontrol information for activating one or more filters within the RFsensor 240N to the RF sensor 240N in response to the determination thatthe user is located within the designated area. The RF sensor 240N mayreceive the control information. The RF sensor 240N may activate the oneor more filters on the basis of the control information. The one or morefilters may extract one or more signals indicating the state of the userfrom the reflection signal. For example, a first filter included in theone or more filters may extract a first signal in a first band byfiltering (or blocking) the remaining signals other than the firstsignal in the first band within the reflection signal. The extractedfirst signal may be a signal indicating the motion state of the user. Inanother example, a second filter included in the one or more filters mayextract a second signal in a second band by filtering the remainingsignals other than the second signal in the second band within thereflection signal. The extracted second signal may be a signalindicating the breath state of the user. In another example, a thirdfilter included in the one or more filters may extract a third signal ina third band by filtering the remaining signals other than the thirdsignal in the third band within the reflection signal.

For example, referring to FIG. 10, the RF Sensor 240N may receive areflection signal 1010. The reflection signal 1010 may include aplurality of signals related to a plurality of bands. The reflectionsignal 1010 may be filtered by one or more filters 1020-1 to 1020-Nwithin the RF sensor 240N activated on the basis of the control of theprocessor 120. For example, the filter 1020-1 may allow a signal 1040-1in the first band within the reflection signal 1010 to passtherethrough. The processor 120 may receive information on the signal1040-1 having passed through the filter 1020-1. In another example, thefilter 1020-N may allow a signal 1040-N in the second band lower thanthe first band within the reflection signal 1010 to pass therethrough.The processor 120 may receive information on the signal 1040-N havingpassed through the filter 1020-N.

The processor 120 may save power consumed due to the operation of theone or more filters by activating the one or more filters included inthe RF sensor 240N on the basis of the condition indicating that theuser is located within the designated area. The one or more filtersincluded in the RF sensor 240N are activated on the basis of thecondition indicating that the user is located within the designated areain operation 960 of FIG. 9, but it should be noted that the one or morefilters may operate in the active state regardless of the conditionaccording to embodiments.

In operation 970, the processor 120 may store data determined on thebasis of the reflection signal in response to the determination that theuser is located within the designated area. According to someembodiments, the data may include information on the reflection signal.According to other embodiments, the data may include information on theone or more identified signals within the reflection signal. Accordingto other embodiments, the data may include information on a featurevalue or a processed value indicating the state of the user determinedon the basis of the one or more signals. According to other embodiments,the data may include information on a probability of the sleep state ofthe user determined on the basis of the feature value or the processedvalue. In other words, the processor 120 may directly store theinformation on the reflection signal without processing or store a valueobtained by processing the information on the reflection signal (forexample, a feature value or a probability value obtained on the basis ofthe reflection signal).

The processor 120 may secure a storage capacity of the memory 130included in the electronic device 101 by storing the data on the basisof the condition indicating that the user is located within thedesignated area. The data is stored on the basis of the conditionindicating that the user is located within the designated area inoperation 970 of FIG. 7, but it should be noted that the data may bestored regardless of the condition according to embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor transmitting an RF signal through one or more beams according tovarious embodiments. The operation may be performed by the electronicdevice 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 or an element (for example, theprocessor 120) included in the electronic device 101.

In FIG. 11, operations 1110 to 1150 may be related to operation 810 ofFIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 11, in operation 1110, the processor 120 may controlthe RF sensor 240N to transmit the RF signal through one or more beams.The one or more beams may be configured in directions from theelectronic device 101 to one or more receiving devices or receiving endsdisposed or installed within the environment 410. Referring to FIG. 12,the environment 410 may further include one or more receiving devices1210. Each of the one or more receiving devices 1210 may be used tofeedback (or provide) information on the state of a channel between theelectronic device 101 and each of the one or more receiving devices1210, related to the one or more beams, to the electronic device 101.Each of the one or more receiving devices 1210 may be used to feedback(or provide) information on a quality of the RF signal transmitted bythe electronic device 101 through the one or more beams to theelectronic device 101. The one or more receiving devices 1210 may bedisposed on the opposite side of the electronic device 101 in order toidentify whether the user is located within the designated area 420. Forexample, the electronic device 101 may be disposed on one side of thedesignated area 420, and the one or more receiving devices 1210 may bedisposed on the other side of the designated area 420. A first beam1200-1 of the one or more beams may be configured in a direction fromthe electronic device 101 to a receiving device 1210-1. A second beam1200-2 of the one or more beams may be configured in a direction fromthe electronic device 101 to a receiving device 1210-2. A third beam1200-3 of the one or more beams 1200 may be configured in a directionfrom the electronic device 101 to a receiving device 1210-3. A fourthbeam 1200-4 of the one or more beams may be configured in a directionfrom the electronic device 101 to a receiving device 1210-4. A fifthbeam 1200-5 of the one or more beams may be configured in a directionfrom the electronic device 101 to a receiving device 1210-5. Theprocessor 120 may transmit the RF signal through each of the one or morebeams 1200 directing to each of the one or more receiving devices 1210through the RF sensor 240-N. According to some embodiments, the RFsignal transmitted through each of the one or more beams 1200 mayinclude information on transmission power of the RF signal. Theinformation on the transmission power of the RF signal may be used todetermine a reception gain of the RF signal.

In operation 1120, the processor 120 may control the RF sensor 240N toreceive information on the state of a channel between the electronicdevice 101 and each of the one or more receiving devices from the one ormore receiving devices. For example, referring to FIG. 12, the processor120 may receive the information on the state of the channel between theelectronic device 101 and each of the one or more receiving devices 1210from each of the one or more receiving devices 1210. The information onthe state of the channel may include information related to thereception gain or reception quality of the RF signal. For example, theinformation on the state of the channel may include one or more of aChannel State Indication (CSI), a Channel Quality Indication (CQI), aReceived Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), or a Signal to Noise Ratio(SNR). According to some embodiments, the information on the state ofthe channel may include information on a difference between a receptiongain (or strength) of the RF signal transmitted in a first period and areception gain of the RF signal transmitted in a second period that isthe subsequent period of the first period. According to otherembodiments, the information on the state of the channel may includeinformation on a difference between a transmission strength of the RFsignal and a reception strength of the RF signal. For example, theprocessor 120 may receive information on the state of the channelrelated to the first beam 1200-1 from the receiving device 1210-1,information on the state of the channel related to the second beam1200-2 from the receiving device 1210-2, information on the state of thechannel related to the third beam 1200-3 from the receiving device1210-3, information on the state of the channel related to the fourthbeam 1200-4 from the receiving device 1210-4, and information on thestate of the channel related to the fifth beam 1200-5 from the receivingdevice 1210-5.

When the user is located within the designated area 420, the state ofthe channel (or the reception gain of the RF signal) related to at leastsome of the one or more beams 1200 may be lower than the state of thechannel related to at least some of the one or more beams 1200 in thecase in which the user is not located within the designated area 420.This is because the user located within the designated area 420 may actas interference of the RF signal. The processor 120 may transmit the RFsignals through the one or more beams 1200 and receive feedbacks relatedto the RF signals from the one or more receiving devices, so as todetermine whether the user is located within the designated area 420.

In operation 1130, the processor 120 may determine that the user islocated within the designated area on the basis of the receivedinformation on the state of the channel. For example, when it isidentified that the state of at least some of the one or more channelsrelated to the one or more beams 1200 is rapidly changed, the processor120 may determine that the user is located within (or enters) thedesignated area 420. In another example, when it is identified that thestate of the one or more channels related to the one or more beams 1200is not changed, the processor 120 may determine that the user is notlocated within (or does not enter) the designated area 420.

Operations 1140 and 1150 may correspond to operations 960 and 970 ofFIG. 9, respectively.

The environment 410 in which the electronic device 101 is located doesnot include one or more receiving devices 1210 for performing thefeedback on the RF signal. In this case, the processor 120 may determinethat the user is located in the designated area 420 by analyzing areflection signal of the transmitted RF signal. The processor 120 mayestimate the location of the user (or a specific object) within thedesignated area 420 on the basis of the determination. The processor 120may control one or more directivity antennas included in the electronicdevice 101 to form beams in a direction corresponding to the estimatedlocated of the user. The processor 120 may perform control to transmitthe RF signals through the beams formed using the one or moredirectivity antennas. The processor 120 may determine the state relatedto the sleep of the user located within the designated area 420 on thebasis of reception of the reflection signal of the RF signal transmittedthrough the beam.

As described above, the processor 120 of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments may determine whether the user islocated within the designated area 420 by transmitting the RF signalsthrough one or more beams in an ultra high frequency band. Since the RFsignal transmitted in the ultra high frequency band is sensitive tointerference due to high straightness thereof, the processor 120 maymonitor whether the state of the designated area 420 related to the useror the object is changed through the feedback of the RF signal. In otherwords, the electronic device 101 according to various embodiments maydetermine whether the user is located within the designated (orspecific) area 420 which is a space to measure the sleep state of theuser without any user input or intervention of the user.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor identifying whether the user is located within the designated areathrough a beacon signal according to various embodiments. The operationmay be performed by the electronic device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 oran element (for example, the processor 120) within the electronic device101.

In FIG. 13, operations 1310 to 1380 may be related to operation 810 ofFIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 13, in operation 1310, the processor 120 may controlthe communication module 220 to broadcast a beacon signal. For example,the processor 120 may control the BT module 225 within the communicationmodule 220 to broadcast the beacon signal. The beacon signal may be usedto determine whether the user is located within the designated area 420.The beacon signal may include an identifier or an identification (ID)indicating the electronic device 101. The ID may be a medium accesscontrol (MAC) address or a MAC ID of the electronic device 101.Referring to FIG. 14, the processor 120 may broadcast the beacon signalthrough the communication module 220 of the electronic device 101disposed within the environment 410. The beacon signal may bebroadcasted to the designated area 420. For example, the area in whichthe beacon signal can be received may correspond to the designated area420. In other words, the coverage area of the beacon signal maycorrespond to the designated area 420. For example, another electronicdevice 104 located outside the designated area 420 may not receive thebeacon signal. In another example, another electronic device 104 locatedwithin the designated area 420 may receive the beacon signal.

In operation 1320, the processor 120 may monitor whether a signalrelated to the transmitted beacon signal is received. The processor 120may monitor whether the signal related to the transmitted beacon signalis received in order to identify whether another electronic device 104is located within (or enter) the designated area 420. Another electronicdevice 104 may be a wearable device (for example, a smart watch) whichthe user can wear. Another electronic device 104 may have a capabilityto receive the beacon signal. The processor 120 may monitor whether thesignal related to the beacon signal is received in order to identifywhether the user wearing another electronic device 104 is located withinthe designated area 240.

Another electronic device 104 may transmit the signal related to thebeacon signal in response to reception of the beacon signal. Referringto FIG. 14, according to some embodiments, another electronic device 104may transmit the signal related to the beacon signal to the electronicdevice 101 through a communication path (for example, a Bluetoothcommunication path) between the electronic device 101 and anotherelectronic device 104. The signal related to the beacon signal mayindicate that another electronic device 104 is located within thedesignated area 420. The electronic device 101 may receive the signalrelated to the beacon signal. According to other embodiments, anotherelectronic device 104 may transmit the signal related to the beaconsignal to the server 106 linked to another electronic device 104. Whenthe signal related to the beacon signal is transmitted to the server106, the signal related to the bacon signal may include information onan identifier of the electronic device 101 and information on anidentifier of another electronic device 104 (for example, a MAC ID ofanother electronic device 104 or a MAC address of another electronicdevice 104). The server 106 may transmit a signal indicating thatanother electronic device 104 receives the beacon signal to theelectronic device 101 on the basis of reception of the signal related tothe beacon signal including the information on the identifier of theelectronic device 101 and the information on the identifier of anotherelectronic device 104. The electronic device 101 may receive the signalindicating that another electronic device 104 receives the beaconsignal.

When the signal related to the beacon signal (or the signal indicatingthat another electronic device 104 receives the beacon signal) isreceived, the processor 120 may perform operation 1330. Unlike this,when the signal related to the beacon signal is not received, theprocessor 120 may repeatedly perform operation 1310 and operation 1320.

In operation 1330, the processor 120 may determine that the user islocated within the designated area in response to reception of thesignal related to the beacon signal. Since the coverage area of thebeacon signal corresponds to the designated area 420, reception of thesignal related to the beacon signal may indicate that the user wearinganother electronic device 104 is located within the designated area 420.The processor 120 may estimate or determine that the user is locatedwithin the designated area on the basis of the signal received fromanother electronic device 104 (or the server 106).

In operation 1340, the processor 120 may transmit the RF signal throughthe RF sensor 240N. For example, the processor 120 may switch theinactive state of the RF sensor 240N to the active state in response tothe determination that the user is located within the designated area.The processor 120 may reduce power consumption required for theoperation of the RF sensor 240N by activating the RF sensor 240N on thebasis of the condition indicating that the user is located within thedesignated area. The processor 120 may transmit the RF signal throughthe activated RF sensor 240N in response to the determination that theuser is located within the designated area.

Operation 1350 and operation 1360 may correspond to operation 930 andoperation 940 illustrated in FIG. 9, respectively.

In operation 1370, the processor 120 may identify one or more signalswithin the monitored reflection signal. For example, the processor 120may identify one or more signals within the reflection signal asillustrated in FIG. 10.

In operation 1380, the processor 120 may store data related to thereceived reflection signal. For example, the processor 120 may storedata related to the reflection signal as shown in operation 970.

As described above, the processor 120 of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments may determine whether the user islocated within the designated area 420 through a beacon signaldistinguished from the RF signal. Since power required for transmittingthe beacon signal may be smaller than power required for transmittingthe RF signal, the processor 120 may save power required for determiningwhether the user is located within the designated area 420 through theoperation illustrated in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor acquiring values indicating the state of the user from one or moresignals according to various embodiments. The operation may be performedby the electronic device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 or an element (forexample, the processor 120) included in the electronic device 101.

In FIG. 15, operation 1510 to operation 1550 may be included inoperation 830 of FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 15, in operation 1510, the processor 120 may acquireor determine one or more first values indicating the motion of the userfrom a first signal among one or more signals identified from thereflection signal. For example, referring to FIG. 16, a graph 1600 mayindicate at least a portion of the first signal. A horizontal axis ofthe graph 1600 may indicate a time and a vertical axis of the graph 1600may indicate the size (for example, a degree of the motion of the user)of values (or data) included in the first signal. The processor 120 maysplit the first signal into specific intervals or epochs) as illustratedin FIG. 16. For example, in the graph 1600, the processor 120 may splitthe first signal into a time interval 1610, a time interval 1620, a timeinterval 1630, and a time interval 1640. In other words, the processor120 may split the first signal into a plurality of time intervals andprocess data of the first signal included in each of the plurality ofsplit time intervals. For example, the processor 120 may process thedata of the first signal included in each of the plurality of timeintervals on the basis of Equation (1) below.

mov(k)=a ₁×mean(m _(k))+a ₂×median(m _(k))  Equation (1)

In Equation (1), k denotes a kth timer interval among a plurality oftimer intervals, mov(k) denotes a first value (a processed value or afeature value) indicating motion of the user in the kth time interval,mean(mk) denotes an average value of data of the first signal in the kthtime interval, median(mk) denotes a median of data of the first signalin the kth interval, a1 denotes a weighted value for mean(mk), and a2denotes a weighted value for median(mk). The processor 120 may determinefirst values indicating motion of the user in the plurality of timeintervals on the basis of Equation (1) above. According to someembodiments, the weighted values a1 and a2 may be determined through anexperiment or learning. For example, an external electronic device (forexample, the server 106) other than the electronic device 101 maydetermine the weighted values a1 and a2 on the basis of statisticaldata. In another example, the electronic device 101 may determine theweighted values a1 and a2 by analyzing reliability of the first valueindicating the motion of the user determined by the electronic device101. Through the calculation operation, the processor 120 may determinethat the size of mov(k) in the time interval 1610 is a, the size ofmov(k) in the time interval 1620 is b larger than a, the size of mov(k)in the time interval 1630 is c smaller than a and b, and the size ofmov(k) in the time interval 1640 is d smaller than a and b and largerthan c. The processor 120 may identify that the motion state of the useris changed from the active state (or unstable state) to the inactivestate (or stable state) by identifying that c and d are smaller than aand b.

In operation 1520, the processor 120 may acquire or determine one ormore second values indicating the breath state of the user from a secondsignal among one or more signals identified from the reflection signal.For example, referring to FIG. 17, a graph 1700 may indicate at least aportion of the second signal. A horizontal axis of the graph 1700 mayindicate a time and a vertical axis of the graph 1700 may indicate alength of a respiratory rate of the user corresponding to data includedin at least a portion of the second signal. A curved line 1705 in thegraph 1700 may indicate a change in the respiratory rate of the useraccording to the time corresponding to data included in at least aportion of the second signal, and a curved line 1770 in the graph 1700may indicate a change in the average of the respiratory rate of the useraccording to the time corresponding to processed data of data includedin at least a portion of the second signal. The processor 120 may splitthe second signal into a plurality of time intervals. For example, onthe curved line 1705 of the graph 1700, the processor 120 may split thesecond signal into n time intervals. The respiratory rate of the userduring a kth time interval among the n time intervals may be indicatedby a curved line 1715. The processor 120 may identify a plurality ofpeak values among a plurality of values (or data) on the curved line1715. The plurality of peak values may indicate maximum values on whichthe respiratory rate changes from the increase to decrease. Theprocessor 120 may calculate an interval between the plurality ofidentified peak values. For example, the processor 120 may determine aninterval 1720 between a time point ti−1 corresponding to a first peakvalue and a time point ti corresponding to a second peak value. Theprocessor 120 may calculate each of the intervals such as the interval1720 on the basis of the plurality of peak values. The processor 120 maydetermine that the average of respiratory rates of the user in the kthtime interval is the second value on the basis of the calculatedintervals. For example, the processor 120 may determine that the averageof the respiratory rates of the user is the second value on the basis ofEquation (2) below.

$\begin{matrix}{{{RR}(k)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}\frac{t_{1} - t_{i - 1}}{n}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} (2)}\end{matrix}$

In Equation (2), k denotes a kth time interval among N time intervals,RR(k) denotes the average of respiratory rates of the user in the kthtime interval, n denotes the number of a plurality of peak values withinthe kth time interval, ti denotes a time point corresponding to an ithpeak value among the n peak values, and ti−1 denotes a time pointcorresponding to an i−1th peak value among the n peak values. Theprocessor 120 may determine that the average of respiratory rates of theuser in the kth time interval is the second value on the basis ofEquation (2). The processor 120 may repeatedly perform the operation inthe n time intervals. For example, the processor 120 may determine oneor more second values by processing data on the second signal asindicated by the curved line 1770 of the graph 1700. The processor 120may identify that the respiratory rate of the user is longer andconstant as the time lapses through data processing as indicated by thecurved line 1770.

In operation 1530, the processor 120 may acquire or determine one ormore third values indicating the heartbeat state of the user from athird signal among one or more signals identified from the reflectionsignal. For example, referring to FIG. 18, a graph 1800 may indicate atleast a portion of the third signal. A horizontal axis of the graph 1800may indicate a time and a vertical axis of the graph 1800 may indicate aheart rate. A curved line 1805 of the graph 1800 may indicate a changein the heartbeat state of the user according to the time. The processor120 may split the third signal into a plurality of time intervals. Theprocessor 120 may identify a plurality of peak values in a portion ofthe third signal in each of the plurality of time intervals. Each of theplurality of peak values may indicates a value having the size largerthan or equal to a threshold value among a plurality of values includedin a portion of the third signal. Each of the plurality of peak valuesmay indicate a normal heartbeat. The processor 120 may calculate aninterval between the plurality of identified peak values. For example,the processor 120 may determine an interval 1810 between a time pointrri−1 corresponding to a first peak value and a time point rricorresponding to a second peak value. The processor 120 may calculateeach of the intervals such as the interval 1810 on the basis of theplurality of peak values. The processor 120 may determine that theaverage of heart rates of the user in a kth time interval among theplurality of time intervals is a third value on the basis of thecalculated intervals. For example, the processor 120 may determine thatthe average of the heart rates of the user is the third value on thebasis of Equation (3) below.

$\begin{matrix}{{{HR}(k)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}\frac{{rr}_{i} - {rr}_{i - 1}}{n}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} (3)}\end{matrix}$

In Equation (3), k denotes a kth time interval among a plurality of timeintervals, HR(k) denotes the average of heart rates of the user in thekth time interval, rri denotes a time point corresponding to an ith peakvalue among the n peak values, and rri−1 denotes a time pointcorresponding to i−1th peak value among the n peak values. The processor120 may determine that the average of heart rates of the user in the kthtime interval is the third value on the basis of Equation (3). Theprocessor 120 may determine the third value in each of the plurality oftime intervals by repeatedly performing the operation in the pluralityof n time intervals.

In another example, the processor 120 may determine that the average ofheart rates of the user is the third value through Standard Deviation ofNN interval (SDNN) as shown in Equation (4).

$\begin{matrix}{{SDNN} = {\frac{1}{n}\sqrt{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}( {{rr}_{i} - \overset{\_}{rr}} )^{2}}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} (4)}\end{matrix}$

In Equation (4), SDNN denotes another example of the third value, ndenotes the number of a plurality of peak values, rri denotes a timepoint corresponding to an ith peak value among the plurality of n peakvalues, and rr denotes the average of intervals between the n peakvalues.

In another example, the processor 120 may determine that the average ofheart rates of the user is the third value through Root Mean Square ofSuccessive Difference (RMSSD) as shown in Equation (5).

$\begin{matrix}{{RMSSD} = {\frac{1}{n}\sqrt{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}( {{rr}_{i} - {rr}_{i + 1}} )^{2}}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} (5)}\end{matrix}$

In Equation (5), RMSSD denotes another example of the third value, ndenotes the number of a plurality of peak values, rri denotes a timepoint corresponding to an ith peak value among the plurality of n peakvalues, and rri+1 denotes a time point corresponding an i+1th peak valueamong the plurality of n peak values.

According to some embodiments, the processor 120 may calculate the oneor more third values from the third signal through analysis of heartrate variation in a frequency domain.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example in which the processor 120 performsoperation 1520 after operation 1510 and performs operation 1530 afteroperation 1520, but this is only for convenience of description.Operation 1510, operation 1520, and operation 1530 may be performedregardless of order or may be actually performed at the same time.

In operation 1540, the processor 120 may determine a probability of thesleep state of the user on the basis of at least some of the firstvalue, the second value, and the third value. The processor 120 maydetermine the probability of the sleep state of the user by assigning aweighted value to each of the first value, the second value, and thethird value. For example, the processor 120 may determine theprobability of the sleep state of the user on the basis of Equation (6).

Prob_(k) =c ₁ f ₁(mov_(k))+c ₂ f ₂(RR _(k))+c ₃ f ₃(HR _(k))  Equation(6)

In Equation (6), Probk denotes a probability of the sleep state of theuser in a kth time interval among n time intervals, f1(movk) denotes oneor more first values indicating the motion state of the user in the kthtime interval, f2(RRk) denotes one or more second values indicating thebreath state of the user in the kth time interval, f3(HRk) denotes oneor more third values indicating the breath state of the user in the kthtime interval, c1 denotes a weighted value for the one or more firstvalues, c2 denotes a weighted value for the one or more second values,and c3 denotes a weighted value for the one or more third values. Theweighted values may be determined on the basis of statistics orlearning.

For example, referring to FIG. 19, a graph 1910 may indicate the motionstate of the user, a horizontal axis of the graph 1910 may indicate atime, and a vertical axis of the graph 1910 may indicate a degree of themotion of the user. A graph 1920 may indicate the breath state of theuser, a horizontal axis of the graph 1920 may indicate a time, and avertical axis of the graph 1920 may indicate a respiratory rate of theuser. A graph 1930 may indicate the heartbeat state of the user, ahorizontal axis of the graph 1930 may indicate a time, and a verticalaxis of the graph 1930 may indicate an average heart rate. A graph 1940may indicate a probability of the sleep state of the user determined onthe basis of data included in the graph 1910, data included in the graph1920, and data included in the graph 1930. A horizontal axis of thegraph 1940 may indicate a time and a vertical axis of the graph 1940 mayindicate a probability. The graph 1910, the graph 1920, the graph 1930,and the graph 1940 may be temporally synchronized. In the graph 1910,the graph 1920, the graph 1930, and the graph 1940, an interval 1950 mayindicate a time during which the user is not located within thedesignated area 420. The time corresponds to a time point at which nomotion of the user, no breath of the user, or no heartbeat of the useris detected.

The processor 120 may determine the probability of the sleep state ofthe user as indicated by the graph 1940 on the basis of Equation (6).

In operation 1550, the processor 120 may determine a time point at whichthe user actually begins sleeping on the basis of the determinedprobability. For example, the processor 120 may identify that a timepoint at which a change in the determined probability according to thetime is smaller than a first reference value is the time point at whichthe user actually begins sleeping. In the graph 1940, the processor 120may identify that a time point 1960 at which the change in thedetermined probability according to the time is smaller than the firstreference value is the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping. In another example, the processor 120 may identify that thetime point 1960 at which the determined probability is larger than afirst threshold value is the time at which the user actually beginssleeping. In another example, the processor 120 may identify that thetime point 1960 at which the determined probability is larger than thefirst threshold value and the change in the determined probabilityaccording to the time is smaller than the first reference value is thetime at which the user actually begins sleeping.

Operation 1510 to operation 1550 are only examples for determining thevalue indicating the state of the user from one or more signals withinthe reflection signal and determining that the determined value is theprobability. The processor 120 of the electronic device 101 according tovarious embodiments may perform other operations without limiting tooperations 1510 to 1550. According to some embodiments, the processor120 may determine the probability of the sleep state of the user on thebasis of one or more values indicating the state of the user throughrule-based learning or machine learning. The processor 120 may furtherprocess information on the determined probability. For example, theprocessor 120 may transform the determined probability to a linear sumusing one or more of a first-order differential, a second-orderdifferential, and a higher-order differential such as a third-orderdifferential of the probability. Further, the processor 120 may identifywhether the user is in a sleep state through a classifier on the basisof a value calculated through the linear sum as an input value. Forexample, the processor 120 may identify whether the user is in the sleepstate on the basis of a machine learning model such as Support VectorMachine (SVM), Hidden Markov Model (HMM), or Recurrent Neural Network(RNN).

As described above, the processor 120 of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments may determine the probability of thesleep state of the user without any intervention of the user. Further,the processor 210 may determine the time point at which the useractually begins sleeping without any intervention of the user.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor determining a time point at which the user intends to sleepaccording to various embodiments. The operation may be performed by theelectronic device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 or the element (for example,the processor 120) of the electronic device 101.

In FIG. 20, operations 2010 to 2030 may be related to operation 840 ofFIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 20, in operation 2010, the processor 120 may identifywhether to determine the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping. For example, the processor 120 may identify whether the timepoint at which the user actually begins sleeping is determined in orderto determine whether to trigger analysis of data related to the one ormore signals and stored in the memory 130. The processor 120 may performoperation 2020 in response to the determination of the time point atwhich the user actually begins sleeping. Unlike this, when the processor120 does not determine the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping, the processor 120 may repeatedly perform operation 2010.

In operation 2020, the processor 120 may identify stored data inresponse to the determination of the time point at which the useractually begins sleeping. For example, the processor 120 may identifystored data through operation 970 of FIG. 9, operation 1150 of FIG. 11,or operation 1380 of FIG. 13. The processor 120 may monitor the storeddata in order to determine a time point at which the user intends tosleep.

In operation 2030, the processor 120 may determine the time point atwhich the user intends to sleep within the identified data. For examplethe processor 120 may determine that a time point at which theprobability of the sleep state of the user is larger than a secondreference value is the time point at which the user intends to sleep.Referring to FIG. 21, in a graph 1940, the processor 120 may determinethat a time point 2110 at which a change in the probability according tothe time is larger than a second reference value is the time point atwhich the user intends to sleep. In another example, the processor 120may determine that the time point 2110 at which the determinedprobability is larger than a second threshold value is the time point atwhich the user intends to sleep. In another example, the processor 120may determine that the time point 2110 at which the determinedprobability is larger than the second threshold value and the change inthe determined probability is larger than the second reference value isthe time point at which the user intends to sleep. In the graph 1940 ofFIG. 21, an interval 2120 may be a sleep latency of the user which is aninterval between the time point at which the user intends to sleep andthe time point at which the user actually begins sleeping.

As described above, the processor 120 of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments may extract values indicating the stateof the user from one or more identified signals within the reflectionsignal of the RF signal. The processor 120 may determine the time pointat which the user intends to sleep and the time point at which the useractually begins sleeping by determining the probability of the sleepstate of the user on the basis of the extracted values and monitoringthe determined probability or the change in the determined probability.The processor 120 may determine the sleep latency of the user on thebasis of the determined time points. In other words, the electronicdevice 101 according to various embodiments may determine the sleeplatency corresponding to a parameter indicating whether the user hasinsomnia without any user input.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor processing information on the sleep latency according to variousembodiments. The operation may be performed by the electronic device 101illustrated in FIG. 1 or an element (for example, the processor 210)included in the electronic device 101.

In FIG. 22, operations 2210 to 2230 may be related to operation 860 ofFIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 22, in operation 2210, the processor 120 may storeinformation on the sleep latency. The processor 120 may store theinformation on the sleep latency in order to process the information onthe sleep latency through operation 2220 or operation 2230. For example,the processor 120 may store the information on the sleep latency in thememory 130 to transmit the information on the sleep latency to anexternal electronic device.

In operation 2220, the processor 120 may monitor whether an informationtransmission event is generated. The information transmission event maybe an event for triggering transmission of the information on the sleeplatency. According to some embodiments, the information transmissionevent may indicate that a time point at which the information on thesleep latency is transmitted arrives. For example, the processor 120 maycontrol the communication module 220 to transmit the information on thesleep latency to an external electronic device linked to the electronicdevice 101 according to a predetermined period (for example, everyspecific hour, daily, weekly, or monthly). According to otherembodiments, the information transmission event may be generation (orestablishment) of the connection between an external electronic deviceand the electronic device 101. For example, the processor 120 maycontrol the communication module 220 to transmit the information on thesleep latency in response to the generation of the connection with theexternal electronic device linked to the electronic device 101.According to other embodiments, the information transmission event maybe operation of the electronic device 101 in a charging state. Forexample, the electronic device 101 may be a device that requires batterycharging. The electronic device 101 may operate in the charging state inorder to secure power consumed by transmission of the information on thesleep latency or may control the communication module 220 to transmitthe information on the sleep latency in response to the identificationof remaining power of the battery of the electronic device 101 largerthan or equal to a threshold value.

When the information transmission event is generated, the processor 120may perform operation 2230. However, when the information transmissionevent is generated, the processor 120 may repeatedly perform operation2210 and operation 2220.

In operation 2230, when the information transmission event is generated,the processor 120 may transmit the information on the sleep latency toan external electronic device linked to the electronic device 101. Thetransmitted information on the sleep latency may be output by theexternal electronic device. For example, the transmitted information onthe sleep latency may be displayed on a display of the externalelectronic device. In another example, the transmitted information onthe sleep latency may be output through vibration, a sound, or anindication. The transmitted information on the sleep latency may be usedto control the function of the external electronic device. In this case,the external electronic device may be a medical device for sleeptreatment of the user.

As described above, the processor 120 of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments may improve usability of theinformation on the sleep latency by sharing the information on the sleeplatency with the external electronic device.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example of the operation of the electronic devicefor changing a mode according to various embodiments. The operation maybe performed by the electronic device 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 or anelement (for example, the processor 120) included in the electronicdevice 101.

In FIG. 23, operations 2310 to 2320 may be related to operation 830 ofFIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 23, in operation 2310, the processor 120 may monitorwhether to determine a time point at which the user actually beginssleeping. The processor 120 may identify whether the time point at whichthe user actually begins sleeping is determined in order to determine atime point at which the mode of the electronic device is changed. Whenthe time point at which the user actually begins sleeping is determined,the processor 120 may perform operation 2320. However, when the timepoint at which the user actually begins sleeping is not determined, theprocessor 120 may repeatedly perform operation 2310.

In operation 2320, when the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping is determined, the processor 120 may change the mode of theelectronic device 101 to a sleep mode. The sleep mode may be a mode forassisting the user in maintaining the sleep state. The sleep mode may bea mode for facilitating the sleep of the user. For example, theprocessor 120 may control a brightness of a lighting device included inthe electronic device 101 in response to the determination of the timepoint at which the user actually begins sleeping. In another example,the processor 120 may change an intensity of a sound signal (that is,control a volume) output from the speaker 282 included in the electronicdevice 101 or change a type of the sound signal (that is, change musicbeing reproduced) in response to the determination of the time point atwhich the user actually begins sleeping. In another example, theprocessor 120 may change an operation period of the RF sensor 240N or anoperation period of the illumination sensor 240K in response to thedetermination of the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping. In another example, when the electronic device 101 is a deviceincluding a display such as a TV, the processor 120 may reducebrightness of a screen output through the display or the number ofdevices (for example, LEDs or color filters) of the display foroutputting or emitting light in response to the determination of thetime point at which the user actually begins sleeping.

As described above, the processor 120 of the electronic device 101according to various embodiments may assist the user in maintainingsleep by controlling the change in the mode of the electronic device 101in response to the determination of the time point at which the useractually begins sleeping.

The method of the electronic device according to various embodiments asdescribed above may include an operation of acquiring first biometricinformation and second biometric information through a biometric signaldetection sensor of the electronic device, an operation of identifying afirst change of the first biometric information and a second change ofthe second biometric information, an operation of determining a state ofan object related to a sleep on the basis of at least a portion of thefirst change and the second change, and an operation of estimating asleep latency related to the object.

According to some embodiments, the biometric signal detection sensor mayinclude an RF sensor, and the operation of estimating the sleep latencymay include an operation of acquiring motion information of the objectthrough the RF sensor and an operation of estimating the sleep latencyon the basis of at least a portion of the first change, the secondchange, or the motion information

According to other embodiments, the electronic device may furtherinclude an image sensor, and the operation of estimating the sleeplatency may include an operation of acquiring image information of theobject through the image sensor, acquire motion information of theobject on the basis of at least a portion of the acquired imageinformation and an operation estimating the sleep latency on the basisof at least a portion of the first change, the second change, or themotion information.

According to other embodiments, the first biometric information mayinclude information on breath of the object, and the second biometricinformation may include information on a heart rate of the object.

The method of the electronic device according to various embodiments mayinclude an operation of receiving first biometric information and secondbiometric information on an external object measured by an externalelectronic device through a communication circuit of the electronicdevice, an operation of identifying a first change of the firstbiometric information and a second change of the second biometricinformation, an operation of determining a state of an object related toa sleep on the basis of at least a portion of the first change and thesecond change, and an operation of estimating a sleep latency related tothe object on the basis of at least a portion of the state.

The method of the electronic device according to various embodiments mayinclude an operation of transmitting a Radio Frequency (RF) signal, anoperation of receiving a reflection signal of the RF signal; identifyingone or more signals indicating a state of a user within the receivedreflection signal, an operation of monitoring a change (difference) indata determined on the basis of the one or more signals according to atime, an operation of determining that a time point at which the useractually begins sleeping is a time point at which the monitored changeis smaller than a first reference value, an operation of determiningthat a time point at which the user intends to sleep is a second timepoint at which the monitored change is larger than a second referencevalue, an operation of determining that a sleep latency of the user is atime interval between the first time point and the second time point,and an operation of storing information on the determined time interval.

According to some embodiments, the operation of identifying the one ormore signals may include an operation of monitoring the receivedreflection signal, execute the stored instructions in order to monitorthe received reflection signal, an operation of identifying the one ormore signals within the received reflection signal in response tomonitoring that a change in the reflection signal is output of apredetermined range, and an operation of storing the data in the memoryor temporarily store the data in response to monitoring that the changein the reflection signal is output of the predetermined range. Forexample, the predetermined range may be configured to identify whetherthe user is located in a specified area. In another example, theoperation of determining the time point at which the user intends tosleep may include an operation of identifying the stored data inresponse to the determination that the time point at which the useractually begins sleeping is the first time point, an operation ofidentifying the second time point at which the change within the storeddata is larger than the second reference value, and an operation ofdetermining that the time point at which the user intends to sleep isthe second time point.

According to other embodiments, the one or more signals may include afirst signal indicating motion of the user, a second signal indicating abreath state of the user, or a third signal indicating a heartbeat stateof the user. For example, the method of the electronic device mayfurther include an operation of acquiring a first value indicating themotion of the user from the first signal, acquiring a second valueindicating the breath state of the user from the second signal,acquiring a third value indicating the heartbeat state of the user fromthe third signal, and determining that a probability of a sleep state ofthe user is the data on the basis of at least a portion of the firstvalue, the second value, and the third value In another example, theelectronic device may include a plurality of filters and an RF sensorconfigured to receive the reflect signal, and the operation ofidentifying the one or more signals may include an operation ofidentifying the first signal related to a first band within the receivedreflection signal through a first filter in the plurality of filters,identifying the second signal related to a second band within thereceived reflection signal through a second filter in the plurality offilters, and identifying the third signal related to a third band withinthe received reflection signal through a third filter in the pluralityof filters.

According to other embodiments, the method of the electronic device mayfurther include an operation of measuring illumination of light aroundthe electronic device and an operation of receiving a sound signalaround the electronic device, and the operation of determining the timepoint at which the user actually begins sleeping may include anoperation of determining the time point at which the user actuallybegins sleeping on the basis of at least a portion of information on theillumination and information on the sound signal and the operation ofdetermining the time point at which the user intends to sleep mayinclude an operation of determining the time point at which the userintends to sleep on the basis of at least a portion of the informationon the illumination and the information on the sound signal.

According to other embodiments, the method of the electronic device mayfurther include an operation of controlling a brightness of anenvironment in which the electronic device is located in response to thedetermination of the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping.

According to other embodiments, the method of the electronic device mayfurther include an operation of transmitting information on thedetermined time interval to the external electronic device.

According to other embodiments, the method of the electronic device mayfurther include an operation of changing the output sound signal inresponse to the determination of the time point at which the useractually begins sleeping.

According to other embodiments, the operation of transmitting the RFsignal may include an operation of transmitting the RF signal throughthe plurality of beams.

Methods according to embodiments stated in claims and/or specificationsof the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination of hardware and software.

When the methods are implemented by software, a computer-readablestorage medium for storing one or more programs (software modules) maybe provided. The one or more programs stored in the computer-readablestorage medium may be configured for execution by one or more processorswithin the electronic device. The at least one program may includeinstructions that cause the electronic device to perform the methodsaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by theappended claims and/or disclosed herein.

The programs (software modules or software) may be stored innon-volatile memories including a random access memory and a flashmemory, a Read Only Memory (ROM), an Electrically Erasable ProgrammableRead Only Memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disc storage device, a CompactDisc-ROM (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs), or other type opticalstorage devices, or a magnetic cassette. Alternatively, any combinationof some or all of the may form a memory in which the program is stored.Further, a plurality of such memories may be included in the electronicdevice.

In addition, the programs may be stored in an attachable storage devicewhich may access the electronic device through communication networkssuch as the Internet, Intranet, Local Area Network (LAN), Wide LAN(WLAN), and Storage Area Network (SAN) or a combination thereof. Such astorage device may access the electronic device via an external port.Further, a separate storage device on the communication network mayaccess a portable electronic device.

In the above-described detailed embodiments of the disclosure, acomponent included in the disclosure is expressed in the singular or theplural according to a presented detailed embodiment. However, thesingular form or plural form is selected for convenience of descriptionsuitable for the presented situation, and various embodiments of thedisclosure are not limited to a single element or multiple elementsthereof. Further, either multiple elements expressed in the descriptionmay be configured into a single element or a single element in thedescription may be configured into multiple elements.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference tocertain embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the scopeof the disclosure should not be defined as being limited to theembodiments, but should be defined by the appended claims andequivalents thereof.

1.-15. (canceled)
 16. An electronic device comprising: a biometricsignal detection sensor configured to acquire first biometricinformation and second biometric information on an object outside theelectronic device; and a processor, wherein the processor is configuredto: acquire the first biometric information and the second biometricinformation through the biometric signal detection sensor, identify afirst change of the first biometric information and a second change ofthe second biometric information, determine a state of the objectrelated to sleep, based on at least a portion of the first change andthe second change, and estimate a sleep latency related to the object,based on at least a portion of the state.
 17. An electronic devicecomprising: a memory configured to store instructions; an RF sensorconfigured to transmit a Radio Frequency (RF) signal and receive areflection signal of the RF signal; and one or more processors coupledto the RF sensor and the memory and configured to execute the storedinstructions in order to: identify one or more signals indicating astate of a user within the received reflection signal, monitor a change(difference) in data determined based on the one or more signalsaccording to a time, determine that a time point at which the useractually begins sleeping is a first time point at which the monitoredchange is smaller than a first reference value, determine that a timepoint at which the user intends to sleep is a second time point at whichthe monitored change is larger than a second reference value, determinethat a sleep latency of the user is a time interval between the firsttime point and the second time point, and store information on thedetermined time interval.
 18. The electronic device of claim 17, whereinthe one or more processors are configured to execute the storedinstructions in order to: monitor the received reflection signal,identify the one or more signals within the received reflection signalin response to monitoring that a change in the reflection signal isoutput of a predetermined range, and store the data in the memory ortemporarily store the data in response to monitoring that the change inthe reflection signal is output of the predetermined range.
 19. Theelectronic device of claim 18, wherein the predetermined range isconfigured to identify whether the user is located in a specified area.20. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the one or moreprocessors are configured to execute the stored instructions in orderto: identify the stored data in response to the determination that thetime point at which the user actually begins sleeping is the first timepoint, identify the second time point at which the change within thestored data is larger than the second reference value, and determinethat the time point at which the user intends to sleep is the secondtime point.
 21. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the one ormore signals comprise a first signal indicating motion of the user, asecond signal indicating a breath state of the user, or a third signalindicating a heartbeat state of the user.
 22. The electronic device ofclaim 21, wherein the one or more processors are configured to executethe stored instructions in order to: acquire a first value indicatingthe motion of the user from the first signal, acquire a second valueindicating the breath state of the user from the second signal, acquirea third value indicating the heartbeat state of the user from the thirdsignal, and determine that a probability of a sleep state of the user isthe data, based on at least a portion of the first value, the secondvalue, and the third value.
 23. The electronic device of claim 21,wherein the RF sensor comprises a plurality of filters, and the one ormore processors are configured to execute the stored instructions inorder to: identify the first signal related to a first band within thereceived reflection signal through a first filter in the plurality offilters, identify the second signal related to a second band within thereceived reflection signal through a second filter in the plurality offilters, and identify the third signal related to a third band withinthe received reflection signal through a third filter in the pluralityof filters.
 24. The electronic device of claim 17, further comprising anillumination sensor configured to measure illumination of light aroundthe electronic device and a microphone configured to receive a soundsignal around the electronic device, wherein the one or more processorsare further configured to execute the stored instructions in order to:determine a time point at which the user actually begins sleeping basedon at least a portion of information on the illumination and informationon the sound signal, and determine a time point at which the userintends to sleep based on at least a portion of the information on theillumination and the information on the sound signal.
 25. The electronicdevice of claim 17, further comprising a circuit configured to control abrightness of an environment in which the electronic device is located,wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute thestored instructions in order to control the brightness of theenvironment in which the electronic device is located in response to thedetermination of the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping.
 26. The electronic device of claim 17, further comprising acommunication interface configured to communicate with an externalelectronic device, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the stored instructions in order to transmitinformation on the determined time interval to the external electronicdevice.
 27. The electronic device of claim 17, further comprising aspeaker configured to output a sound signal, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to execute the stored instructions inorder to change the output sound signal in response to the determinationof the time point at which the user actually begins sleeping.
 28. Theelectronic device of claim 17, wherein the RF sensor comprises atransmission circuit configured to transmit the RF signal through aplurality of beams and a plurality of antennas, and the one or moreprocessors are configured to execute the stored instructions in order totransmit the RF signal through the plurality of beams.
 29. A method ofan electronic device, the method comprising: transmitting a RadioFrequency (RF) signal; receiving a reflection signal of the RF signal;identifying one or more signals indicating a state of a user within thereceived reflection signal; monitoring a change (difference) in datadetermined based on the one or more signals according to a time;determining that a time point at which the user actually begins sleepingis a time point at which the monitored change is smaller than a firstreference value; determining that a time point at which the user intendsto sleep is a second time point at which the monitored change is largerthan a second reference value; determining that a sleep latency of theuser is a time interval between the first time point and the second timepoint; and storing information on the determined time interval.
 30. Themethod of claim 29, further comprising: monitoring the receivedreflection signal; identifying the one or more signals within thereceived reflection signal in response to monitoring that a change inthe reflection signal is output of a predetermined range; and storingthe data in the memory or temporarily store the data in response tomonitoring that the change in the reflection signal is output of thepredetermined range.
 31. The method of claim 29, further comprising:determining a time point at which the user actually begins sleepingbased on at least a portion of information on illumination of light andinformation on the sound signal; and determining a time point at whichthe user intends to sleep based on at least a portion of the informationon illumination of light and information on the sound signal.
 32. Themethod of claim 29, further comprising: controlling a brightness of anenvironment in which the electronic device is located in response to thedetermination of the time point at which the user actually beginssleeping.
 33. The method of claim 29, further comprising: transmittinginformation on the determined time interval to the external electronicdevice.
 34. The method of claim 29, further comprising: changing anoutput sound signal in response to the determination of the time pointat which the user actually begins sleeping.
 35. The method of claim 29,further comprising: transmitting the RF signal through a plurality ofbeams and a plurality of antennas.